


alexithymia

by peppersnot



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-03-25 02:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3793447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppersnot/pseuds/peppersnot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Student ID cards can be stolen, said a voice at the back of his head. Maybe he really should start locking the front door. At least at night.</i>
</p><p>Kenma doesn't lock his door, and now someone pretty and unfamiliar is sleeping on his couch. Shouyou's going to kill him, probably.</p><p>or, the “you broke into my apartment drunk thinking it was your friend’s house and I should call the cops but my cat kinda likes you so we’re good” AU that no one asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first ever multi-chapter fic for this fandom! I don't usually write multi chapter fics, so this is a new experience and this is good, I think!
> 
> I took the prompt from [this](http://tokiosunset.tumblr.com/post/105774914690) post! It fits KuroKen so well. I'll keep adding tags as I go along, but for now, the ones I have up are the definite ones. That is, they're definitely part of this fic. I'm so excited!

“I worry a lot about you, Kenma,” his mother said over the phone for the twentieth time – he’d been keeping count – and Kenma sighed, shifting the phone to his other ear. He rolled over on the bed so he was lying on his stomach and traced over one of the grid patterns of his bed sheets with his index finger as he listened to her start again on all her worries and scruples about him living alone.

“I’m fine, Mom,” he replied, also the twentieth time, and hoped with this, the conversation would end. It wasn’t like he wasn’t on good terms with his mother; they were quite close and he’d been pretty skeptical about moving away for college. He just never liked phone calls, regardless of who they were from. It made him uncomfortable to hear a voice and not see a face with it – to not be able to read expressions and find the hidden meaning behind every word. Especially with his mother, who, despite their close relationship and genuinely sweet words, always gave him a dose of _Kenma, this is how I wanted you to be_ with her smiles. He didn’t mind that; at least it was the truth in his face. He knew she still loved him, even with the way he turned out – that is, pointedly _not_ how she’d expected her son to have been.

“Are you eating three times a day?” She asked, and he could hear pots and pans clattering around in the background. “You don’t eat enough, honey. Every time you come home, you’re skinnier than before! I do worry about you.”

Twenty one.

“Mom, I’m okay. I’m eating.” He racked his brains for an excuse to hang up already. “I have to go out with Shouyou today, so I’m going to go get ready.”

“Oh! That lovely boy! How is he?” Kenma could almost hear the warmth in her voice at the mention of Shouyou’s name. He rolled his eyes. Everybody loved Shouyou. Not a surprise. Shouyou practically radiated happiness and sunshine – the stark opposite of what Kenma was like, and he knew people often wondered how and why they were best friends. They’d known each other years. Shouyou was probably the only person outside his immediate family that Kenma could talk to without wanting the earth to swallow him whole. Maybe it was the fact that Shouyou always spoke his mind, he didn’t really know. He couldn’t really remember a time in his life when Shouyou _hadn’t_ been around.

“ – met his mother at the supermarket two days ago,” His mother was still talking. “And we were discussing how you two suddenly grew up so fast!”

“Yeah,” He responded absently. “Bye.”

“Okay, honey, have  fun! Make sure you eat properly and – “

“Yeah, bye.” He hung up before she could take up another half hour with her goodbyes and frowned at the digital clock on his phone screen. Shouyou would be here any minute. The mattress bounced suddenly and he turned to the right to see the cause. Kuroo stared at him with bright green eyes and Kenma smiled. “Hey,” he murmured, voice soft, bringing up a hand to scratch him behind the ears. “You hungry?”

Kuroo purred, leaning into his hand and closing his eyes. Kenma smiled and pushed himself off the bed, making his way to the small kitchen to get Kuroo his food. Kuroo followed, footsteps silent on the carpeted floor. He had only just taken the box of cat food out of the cabinet when the door slammed open and a loud yell from the living room made Kenma jump. Kuroo hissed in indignation.

“I knew you’d do it again! I knew it!” Shouyou yelled, shaking his fist as he entered the kitchen. “You left the door unlocked again!”

Kenma looked at him blankly. “I never lock the door. You know that.”

“ _Yeah_ , and I’ve told you like, a million times to lock it! One day someone will come in here uninvited – “

“You do that everyday.”

“ - and kill you, and I won’t avenge you, because it’ll be your own fault.”

“That’s okay, I don’t mind.” Kenma turned back to Kuroo’s food and Shouyou shook his head. He bent down to pet Kuroo, complaining to the cat about how rude Kenma was, not understanding the devastation he’d feel upon having his best friend murdered in his own home. He scowled when Kenma set the bowl of cat food on the floor and Kuroo padded off to eat.

“You made your cat run away from me.”

“He was hungry.”

“Whatever. I’m also hungry. Let’s go!”

Kenma nodded, and picked up his phone off the counter, checked his pocket to make sure his wallet was there and followed Shouyou out the door, locking it behind him at Shouyou’s glare. He wasn’t a fan of the whole ‘let’s go out to eat every Friday!’ tradition, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Shouyou’s convincing powers were beyond his understanding.

Shouyou could make anyone do anything, once he plastered that smile on his face. It was a little unnerving.

“So Kageyama asked me out yesterday,” Shouyou told him as they got into the elevator. Kenma looked up from his phone in surprise. “He didn’t do it on purpose, though. Turned out he meant lunch as friends, because he had coupons to this ramen place and he didn’t know who else to take, so he took me. But I thought he meant like, _date_ date, and I dressed up all nicely and he showed up in his uniform.”

Kenma bit his lip to keep from laughing. It wasn’t very successful apparently, given the indignant look he received, but that only made it funnier. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over his face.

“He’s so dense!” Shouyou complained. “He’s like a genius at volleyball and everything but then he just completely misses the fact that I’m literally throwing myself at him and I want to pull my hair out.”

The elevator jerked as they reached the ground floor and Kenma cursed in his head. He really needed to file a complaint about that. Shouyou waved at the warden on their way out of the building.

“Why do I like such an idiot?” He asked. “Why? Just why? Please don’t read out my texts to me, I will want to kill myself.”

Kenma shrugged. “I wasn’t going to.”

“ _Liar_.”

He smiled to himself as he hit the back button, navigating away from his text conversation with Shouyou. There were some cons of having known a person too long. He put his phone in his pocket when they reached the dining block. They’d made an agreement in the first week of freshman year, that on Friday evenings - their weekly night out – he wouldn’t have any electronics at hand. There was no point in arguing about it. He’d learnt a long time ago that when Shouyou wanted him to do something, he’d end up doing it. It was unfair, he thought, but it wasn’t like Shouyou ever made him do anything that made him uncomfortable. Sure, he’d much rather have something in his hands, but as long as Shouyou was around to do the talking, he was fine. He knew no one expected him to be conversational.

“Today,” Shouyou said, turning to face Kenma with a bright smile that he’d come to recognize as the _I’m-trying-to-make-things-go-my-way_ smile. He put his hands in his pockets to wrap his fingers around his phone. “We’re going to the new café that opened up next to McDonalds.”

“Can’t we just go to McDonalds?”

“I wanna try the new place!” Kenma raised an eyebrow and Shouyou laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “And um, well, Kageyama just got a part time at McDonalds and I don’t want to face him with the whole lunch-not-date thing.”

“It wasn’t like he figured anything out,” Kenma muttered, but there it was. He kind of regretted prying for the reason, because now he couldn’t say no. Well, he could, because despite the way Shouyou could make him do what he wanted, he was also understanding enough to know that Kenma didn’t like new environments, and would probably agree to McDonalds. But he wasn’t going to make Shouyou do that. “Fine, let’s go.”

Shouyou beamed and led him to the door of the new place – _Beans and Crèmes,_ it was called. Kenma frowned judgmentally at the name, but didn’t say anything. If they wanted to make a fool out of themselves, then so be it.

It was crowded inside, and he immediately felt that familiar sense of unease creeping into his stomach at all the people around him. Shouyou took him by the arm and led him to a small table in a corner, relatively far away from all the people, although not exactly secluded. Still, it was a lot better, and Kenma was grateful.

The menu on the table revealed that there wasn’t much variety to choose from. In the end, they both settled on identical burgers and soda, and Kenma sat at the table while Shouyou went off to the counter with their orders. There was loud laughing everywhere, and Kenma could see a table full of probably junior or senior boys at the other end, laughing at something stupid, probably.

One of them was the Grand King Shouyou was always complaining about. Oikawa Tooru. His room was next to Kenma’s. His boyfriend was there too. Iwaizumi something. Also a volleyball player. They were _all_ volleyball players, he realized upon looking more closely. He’d seen them at some of Shouyou’s practices, and he was pretty sure one of them was a sophomore like him, and in one of his classes. Akaashi, maybe. Whatever.

Shouyou came back before he could dwell on it too much, and started telling him about how he was going to kill the guy who had confessed to his sister two days ago, and why was she so excited about it?!

“She’s thirteen now, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise,” he said, and Shouyou scowled.

“Yeah, but…she’s so young! They’ll violate her!”

“Natsu’s smarter than that.”

“But those boys aren’t! I’ll kill them!”

Kenma sighed and shook his head. Shouyou frowned as he chewed his food, probably devising murder plans, before he suddenly snapped his fingers and pointed at Kenma.

“Why haven’t _you_ got anything to tell me?!”

“Nothing interesting happens to me.”

“You’re in _college_ , Kenma! You should _go out_ , and have fun and fall in love and – “

“No, thanks.”

“Oh, come on! At least tell me _something_ interesting!”

Kenma shrugged and took a sip of soda. “Iwaizumi-san and Oikawa-san are very loud.”

Shouyou choked on his food and Kenma bit his tongue to keep from laughing. 

* * *

 

He didn’t manage to get home till midnight. Not that he’d expected to be able to get back earlier than that. Once Shouyou had kept him out till two, and he was just glad that they’d decided on Fridays instead of weekdays. He’d probably miss his morning classes altogether if they had. He was late enough for them as it was. Mornings didn't treat Kenma well.

Why did it take so long? It wasn’t like they did anything. Just ate and talked. Or Shouyou talked and occasionally demanded stories, like he had today. Usually, Kenma only listened and commented here and there. 

It was fun though. Shouyou was fun to be with, and Kenma was grateful to have him as a friend. The elevator jerked again as it reached his floor and he glared at the doors when they closed behind him. He really needed to file a complaint about that. There was loud music playing in one of the rooms – probably Lev, Kenma thought as he took the key out of his pocket to unlock the door. He was greeted by Kuroo’s loud, indignant mewing, and he bent down to apologise for leaving him all alone for so long.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, as Kuroo stalked off with his nose in the air. Oh, well. 

He left the door unlocked behind him and made his way to the bedroom. In around ten minutes, he’d get a text from Shouyou in all caps, telling him to lock the door. He wouldn’t actually do it though. Kenma had a lot of nice neighbours.

It wasn’t a bad thing, but it meant he had a lot of people coming in for something or the other at all times, and he really didn’t like to constantly have to go and unlock it every time someone came to say something. It wasn’t like there was any real danger anyway. Nobody could enter campus without an ID card, and nobody could enter any of the dorm buildings without an ID card either. As far as he knew, the only people who could break in were students or teachers, and since he was practically invisible as an individual, he didn’t think he had to worry much about that 

And he didn’t have anything worth stealing either, besides his phone, handheld and laptop, but those were with him almost everywhere he went, so it was okay.

 _Everyone worries too much_ , he thought to himself, as he got ready for bed. He was tired and he wanted to sleep, but he wanted to play the new level of his game that he had unlocked in the afternoon. Half an hour, he told himself and got into bed. Kuroo was curled up on the other side, apparently not angry anymore, because he let Kenma pet him.

Shouyou’s text came right on schedule – _LOCK_ _YOUR DOOR OR I WILL SEND YOU MURDERERS_ – and Kenma half smiled to himself. Typical Shouyou. He set the phone aside to pick up his PSP off the bedside table.

At around two thirty, when he decided he really did not need to play the next level right now, the front door opened. Kuroo immediately sat up and Kenma froze. Even though everyone on the floor knew the door would be open, and that he’d have no issues with them coming in, nobody ever came in so late. Except maybe Lev from the end of the hall, but he would have yelled a loud _KENMA-_ _SAN_ _!_ upon entering, so it couldn’t be him. _Maybe it’s Shouyou_ , he thought. _He’s come to scare me._

It didn’t seem likely though. Shouyou wasn’t a night person.

He turned the PSP off to listen closely, but he couldn’t hear anything from outside. Sure, a burglar wouldn’t be loud exactly, but he couldn’t be this silent either, could he? He was sure he hadn’t imagined it though, because Kuroo had definitely heard it as well.

His heart was beating wildly, and Kenma took a minute to tell himself it wasn’t anyone dangerous – _student ID cards, remember?_

 _ID cards can be stolen so easily,_ said a small voice at the back of his head, that sounded suspiciously like Shouyou. Kenma picked up a slipper and tiptoed across the room to the door. There was still no sound from outside. Behind him, Kuroo meowed loudly and Kenma jumped, dropping his slipper in surprise.

“Be quiet,” he hissed. He switched the lights off and turned the handle carefully, making sure he didn’t make a sound.

It didn’t feel like anyone was there. The living room was dark, only lit by the moonlight coming in from the window. Even so, he couldn’t see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. Maybe he really had imagined it. Kuroo must have heard something from the streets outside.

He opened the door all the way and stepped outside, still holding the slipper tightly, just in case. He’d calmed down for the most part. There weren’t any serial killers around. He wasn’t going to die.

He turned the lights in his room back on and had almost closed the door when he noticed it.

Something on the couch. He would have missed it completely, in the moonlight but now that there was clear light coming from the room, he could definitely see it. Something on his couch. Mostly still, but big and suspiciously human-looking. Kenma clutched the slipper tighter and flipped the switch.

 _This is a bad idea_ , the rational, Shouyou-influenced part of his brain told him. He was small and weak, thanks to years of no exercise, and the person on his couch was very much not in the same boat, given the muscled arm slung over one of his cushions. He’d be no match, even with his slipper. _Especially_ with his slipper. He could go back to his room and call security. Maybe he really should start locking the door.

He stepped closer anyway. He smell of alcohol hit him half way across the room and Kenma wrinkled his nose. Great, a drunkard. The intruder had his face hidden in the cushions and it wasn’t until he was right in front of the couch that he could see who it was. Volleyball player, definitely. He’d been at the table at _Beans and Crèmes._ Probably a junior, Kenma thought. He sighed and walked back to his room, and locked the door.

Shouyou was going to kill him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this got a lot better response than i thought it would! thank you!! i hope you like this chapter as well :D

Kenma had finished almost the entire game by the time the intruder started showing signs of regaining consciousness. He’d woken up unnaturally early for a Saturday – unnaturally early for Kenma at all – which wasn’t entirely a surprise, given the whole ‘there’s someone I don’t know in my apartment’ thing at the back of his head. He’d woken up thinking about the freedom of his couch, but 7:40 a.m might still be too much. Especially since it took at least three calls from Shouyou and one Kuroo jumping onto his stomach to wake him up for his 9 a.m class on weekdays.

The couch was still occupied when he stepped out into the living room, which was too be expected. Nobody woke up this early on a Saturday, and definitely not someone who’d passed out from drinking too much the night before. He tried to remember how to cure a hangover. From movies and Shouyou’s dumb Korean dramas, he remembered water – drinking too much gave you a dry mouth, or something and obviously headaches. He poured out a glass of water and found a bottle of painkillers in the medicine box Shouyou had demanded he keep. Maybe if he if he was nice and helped cure the hangover, then the guy would spare him, in case he was dangerous. He could still run away though, he thought. He could go and call the warden, and he’d be safe.

But the guy didn’t look that dangerous, honestly. Or at least, Kenma couldn’t imagine him being dangerous with the way he was curled up on the cough, hugging one of the cushions tightly to his chest.

Kuroo shot the couch a disgusted look, as if deciding he’d never sit there again and chose to stay near Kenma’s feet at all times, which led to Kenma almost tripping over him twice and successfully stepping onto his tail once, after which he settled for staying in a corner of the living room to glare daggers at the huge pile of human that had stolen his spot. Kenma rolled his eyes at the look of betrayal he received and sat down on the floor next to the coffee table, playing the level he’d unlocked last night.

It was eleven by the time he reached the final boss battle, and Kuroo was curled up on his lap, having probably had enough of sulking. An abnormally loud groan startled Kuroo enough to make him scramble away, digging his claws into Kenma’s knee in his haste. Kenma cursed under his breath and raised his eyes to look at the guy. He looked a little disconcerted, lying there with his eyes open, but eyeing his surroundings in confusion. Which was to be expected, after all, he’d fallen asleep in a stranger’s apartment. Kenma felt like he should say something – a hello maybe, or a ‘hey, are you okay?’ but he chose to remain quiet.

The black eyes focused on him then, and the guy frowned for a second before abruptly sitting up and yelling in pain as he clutched his head. So Kenma had been right about the headache. “Fuck my life,” he croaked out, rubbing his temples. “Who are you?”

Kenma shrugged.

“Ugh, okay, whatever. Where am I?”

“My place,” Kenma said, flatly, voice dropping a few octaves as he took a good look at the stranger. He was definitely tall – Kenma could tell as much, even while sitting on the couch – and he was all muscle and handsome face. Tall, dark, stranger – he almost snorted to himself. Somewhere in the wow category, maybe. But then Oikawa-san was also somewhere in the wow category, and if all wow people were like that, Kenma didn’t want to get to know any.

“Wait, what?” The guy looked around frantically. “You brought me here? Did I pass out somewhere insane, because I didn’t even drink that much and I remember going to Bokuto’s and climbing stairs and – “

“You came into my house at 2:30 last night,” Kenma cut in, voice still low, eyes on the carpet. “I don’t lock my door, and you were drunk.”

“I wasn’t drunk! I didn’t even drink that much!” Tall-dark-and-handsome exclaimed. “You’re shitting me – I broke into your apartment?!”

The response was another shrug. He opened his mouth to say something, but a loud meowing from the bedroom interrupted him. Kenma rolled his eyes. He knew that tone. It was the _pay-attention-to-me_ tone – a demand to be acknowledged by the stranger, which was kind of surprising, since Kuroo didn’t do well with new people.

“Kuroo, shut up,” he muttered, not entirely happy about the fact that he had to raise his voice. He received a look of bewilderment from the guy on his sofa.

“I didn’t even say anything!”

Kenma blinked at him. “I know.”

“You just told me to shut up.”

“I told my cat to shut up.”

“Your cat? The one that was meowing just now? Your cat is – you named your cat Kuroo?!”

Kenma frowned. Was that wrong? Sure, it wasn’t the most original of names, but that wasn’t exactly his fault. Originally Kuroo had been Rin, named after Kenma’s favourite character from Love Live! but after a month, he realized that Rin was, in fact, a boy, and Shouyou decided to name him Kuroo because he was black. Shouyou wasn’t exactly the world’s most creative person. He nodded slowly.

“Wow,” the guy said, smiling brightly. Was it wow? It wasn’t wow. There was nothing wow about his cat being called Kuroo. Unless it was the wow you’re so stupid kind of wow, in which case it should be directed at Shouyou, not him. “That’s kinda funny,” he continued. “My name’s Kuroo Tetsurou, so I was like woah, why are you telling me to shut up, I mean I haven’t even said anything.”

Kenma blinked. Oh. So that’s what it was. He had a stranger in his house – maybe not a drunkard, like he’d  thought originally, since he didn’t seem to be having any hangover symptoms, and claimed to not have drank too much – who had the same name as his cat. That was nice. This would probably count as one of those Interesting Friday Night Stories, except Shouyou wouldn’t find the whole ‘stranger came into my house in the middle of the night’ part so interesting. Even though this guy wasn’t dangerous. And shared a name with his cat.

He was still unsure of whether he’d tell Shouyou or not, although there wouldn’t much point in that. Shouyou had connections everywhere. And this guy was one of the volleyball guys, so Shouyou would definitely know him.

“Oh,” he said, realizing he was expected to reply.

“You don’t talk much, do you? That’s okay, I talk a lot, so it’s fine. We can still hold a conversation.”

“Why are you assuming we’re going to have a conversation?”

“I broke into your house unknowingly,” Kuroo said, smiling. “I swear I didn’t mean to, though. I was going upstairs to Bokuto’s, but I guess I got the wrong dorm building. Which one is this?”

“M2.”

“Okay, right building, wrong dorm.”

“You shouldn’t drink so much,” Kenma murmured, looking at the floor. “It’s not healthy.” 

“Oh, I know. I didn’t even drink that much, I don’t know how this happened,” He made wild gestures with his arms that Kenma thought were kind of startling. If someone was standing close to him, he’d get slapped in the face really hard. “I actually don’t drink at all, usually, but I broke up with my girlfriend yesterday and yeah.”

“Oh.” Was the dumb response Kenma came up with. “I’m…um…sorry…?”

“That’s okay, you didn’t do anything. Our relationship was rocky from the start, so I wasn’t really surprised.”

Kenma nodded, not really sure of what he was supposed to say now. As far as he knew, he didn’t need details on a stranger’s love life. Even if said stranger had a name that he was aware of. He’d never really been one for gossip.

“Oh!” Kuroo slapped his thigh and looked around. “Where’s your cat? I wanna see my animal name twin! Kuroo!” He laughed. “It feels so weird calling my own name. Oy, Kuroo!”

“He won’t come so easily,” Kenma said. “He’s shy around strangers.”

Even as he said though, there was the sound of small feet pattering softly against the carpet and the black cat hesitantly came out of the room to sit next to Kenma to stare at the ecstatic human-Kuroo.

“Hey, he looks like me!” Human-Kuroo – Tetsurou, Kenma decided to call him. At least in his head – leaned over to pet the cat, and looked extremely put out when Kuroo shied away from the hand and hid behind Kenma. “Aw, come on! I’m not hurting you! We even have the same name!”

“I don’t think he knows that…”

“I’m sure he does. He’ll cave eventually!” Tetsurou’s grin was confident – one of those smiles from toothpaste commercials, Kenma realized. Girls probably swooned over it. Maybe even some boys. Tetsurou was making cat sounds now, snapping his fingers to get Kuroo’s attention and call him closer. Kenma sighed and resisted the urge to shake his head. There was no way Kuroo would let a stranger touch him. It had taken Kenma almost two weeks to make him comfortable around himself, and even Shouyou had taken almost a month.

Which is why it came a s a shock – accompanied by the feeling of pure betrayal – when after a minute or so of coaxing, Kuroo peeked out from behind him and hesitantly took small steps towards the outstretched hand, until Tetsurou was scratching him behind the ears, looking positively elated. Kenma shot his cat a dirty look that went unnoticed by both Kuroos. _No Saturday fish for you_ , he decided.

“He likes me!”

“Yeah,” Kenma replied, unenthusiasitically.

Tetsurou laughed. “He knew I was also just a Kuroo extending my hand in friendship.”

 _Whatever you say_ , Kenma thought, but didn’t voice. Besides, there were more important matters to be dealing with, than how big of a traitor his cat was. For example, why Kuroo Tetsurou – recently broken up with his girlfriend – was in Kenma’s apartment. Besides somehow having mistaken his place for someone else. Apparently there were other people who left their door unlocked as well. Maybe he could use that against Shouyou next time.

“Why are you here?” He asked. Tetsurou shrugged, apparently too busy with the cat purring in his lap. _Traitor_ , Kenma thought again.

“I told you, wrong dorm. What floor is this?”

“Five.”

“Ooh, that’s probably it. The elevator was taking too long, so I decided to take the stairs, and I guess I mistook the fifth floor for the sixth. Bokuto would be right above you, then.” He gave Kenma a look. “And you should lock your door. That’s what I tell Bokuto too, every time, but he refuses to listen.”

And so would he, Kenma decided. He didn’t need _another_ person telling him to lock his door. He had enough people nagging at him for it as it was. But at least he knew there was someone else too, who didn’t lock the door. He’d definitely use that against Shouyou.

“Crap,” Tetsurou said suddenly, looking at the wall clock. “I slept like half the day and missed practice.”

“…volleyball?” Kenma asked, and immediately regretted it. He had a reputation – among the five people he knew, anyway – of being completely oblivious to everything around him. And now person six would know that he wasn’t really that oblivious.

“Yeah! How did you know?”

He looked away. “My best friend is on the team. You should go home, now.”

“Yeah, you’re right, but but but who’s your best friend? I would know him, right?”

Kenma was silent for a second, weighing out the pros and cons of giving a name. If he told Tetsurou, then Shouyou would find out within an hour, max. But then again, he’d find out by Monday anyway. What were the pros? There were no pros. There was nothing to gain out of telling this person who his best friend was. But he’d guess anyway. The team wasn’t exactly that big.

“Hinata Shouyou,” he finally admitted, demanding explanations from himself in his head as to why he would give away information about himself so easily. To a _stranger_.

Tetsurou gasped dramatically, pointing an accusing finger at his face. “You’re Shrimpy’s best friend?!”

“…yes?” Shrimpy. He’d remember to use that against Shouyou too.

“So _you’re_ the cute kid on Oikawa’s floor.”

“I’m not a kid.” Kenma scowled. “And Oikawa-san is next door.”

“Right, right. Fifth floor, I should have realized.” Tetsurou scrunched up his nose. “Wait, I know your name, I’ve heard it a lot. Ken, right?”

“Kenma. Kozume Kenma.” There was a small seed of… _something_ in his stomach, that he couldn’t exactly place, at finding out that someone knew his name. Someone he had never talked to knew his name. Or well, kind of knew it, but it counted. He had the sneaky suspicion it was excitement, but that was absurd. There was no need for him to be _excited_ about someone knowing him. Especially not someone like Tetsurou.

 _Well, he’s not that bad,_ he told himself. _A little overenthusiastic, is all. Like Shouyou_. And Shouyou was his best friend, wasn’t he?

“Right, right.” Tetsurou beamed and extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, Kenma!

“We met an hour ago,” Kenma said, warily as he slowly took the hand to shake it.

“Yes, but,” his hand was shaken violently and Kenma shot the muscled arms a weary look. They weren’t lying, he was way too strong. “We became acquainted with each other properly just now. With names. Well, you found out mine before, but whatever.”

Kenma shrugged, extracting his hand from the other’s grip. Was that rude? It wasn’t rude, was it? They had properly shaken hands. He wasn’t being rude. Maybe. There was a loud meow from the side, and Kuroo looked at them with offended eyes at having been ignored for so long. Tetsurou laughed.

“Right, you’re hungry,” Kenma murmured softly, hoping Tetsurou wouldn’t hear. He didn’t try to peek out from behind his hair to check though. That would be awkward. It hit him while he was preparing Kuroo’s food, that it might be rude to not offer any breakfast. It was his apartment after all. Not that he was under any obligation to give anyone any breakfast. He hadn’t _asked_ for Tetsurou to come barging in, in the middle of the night. He didn’t owe anyone any breakfast.

“Would you like something to eat?” He asked anyway, and took a sigh of relief when Tetsurou shook his head. It was short lived though, and he regretted bringing up breakfast at all.

“You know, to apologise for all the inconvenience I’m causing you, let _me_ treat _you_ to breakfast!”

Kenma blanched. “I…um, I don’t think that’s – “

“Aw, come on!” Tetsurou said, pushing Kuroo off his lap to stand up and walk over to hover at the kitchen entryway. Kenma ignored him and continued preparing Kuroo’s food. “I’ll treat you!”

“I-it’s okay – “

“No, no, I insist!” Before Kenma knew it, Tetsurou had come closer and grabbed his wrist, and for some reason, he didn’t bother pulling away. “I must have been a lot of trouble to take care of and stuff – “

“All you did was sleep on my couch.”

“ – and I really wouldn’t be able to rest if I don’t somehow make it up to you, you know?”

 _I don’t_ , he wanted to say. This guy was exactly like Shouyou, except bigger. And apparently very good with cats. Despite everything though, he found himself shrugging meekly and Tetsurou pumped a fist in the air. Stupid self consciousness. He really had to get over that, and learn how to say no. To strangers who might kill you. Except Tetsurou didn’t seem like someone who’d kill – he was pretty nice actually, and very much not someone Kenma would want to hang around with – but that didn’t change the fact that he needed to know how to say no. Maybe he could still do it.

“I…I’ll go get my things.” Okay, maybe not.

“Yeah! Yeah, you do that and I’ll just…I should brush my teeth and stuff – “

“...I have a spare toothbrush?”

“Oh yeah, cool, thanks Kenma!”

He waited on the couch while Tetsurou was in the bathroom, questioning all his life choices. Why was Tetsurou using his first name? Why had he said yes? Why the hell had he offered a spare toothbrush? He should have called security before Tetsurou had even woken up. He was being too nice. This was Shouyou’s influence, he decided. Shouyou, who he had met because he was lost and Shouyou had seen him, sitting in a corner of the park.

 _“My house is the one with the pink roof! You should come and visit me sometime!_ ”

And then, Kenma scoffed, _Shouyou_ was the one who told him to be more careful about who he talked to. Shouyou was in no position to say anything of the sort. He’d gone around telling people his address and phone number when he’d first learnt it.

“Let’s go to _Beans and Crèmes_!” Tetsurou singsonged, emerging from the bathroom with the toothbrush in his hand, looking fresh and brighter than he’d been before, if that was possible. “It’s the new place in the dining block next to McDonalds!”

“I know,” Kenma said. “I had dinner there yesterday.”

“ _Really?_ So did I! I didn’t see you!”

 _I know, and I’m glad you didn’t_ , Kenma thought, but only shugged. “I was in a corner…”

He chose not to mention that he’d seen him. That would only somehow make things worse. Somehow. He wasn’t sure exactly how, but it would, he could feel it. Probably the whole reputation thing. He didn’t bother showing any resistance when he was pulled up by the arm and dragged out the door for a breakfast he never wanted. Kuroo stared at him blankly from the kitchen floor and did nothing about the desperate look Kenma gave him. _Traitor_. Well, it wasn’t like he actually expected him to do anything, but a miracle would have been nice.

For once, he wished there was some kind of commotion somewhere that could prevent this, but the universe hated him or something, so there was none. Tetsurou lead him downstairs happily, laughing when the elevator jerked at the ground floor and talked animatedly all the way to the dining block.

He took a table in the corner of the café, even though there were a few other tables empty. Kenma looked at the two-seater in surprise.

“I’m assuming you don’t like people,” Tetsurou said, taking a seat. “This is fine, right?”

Kenma nodded dumbly and sat down. It didn’t occur to him until way later when he returned from a breakfast that was actually not as bad as he’d expected – besides the smell of all that bacon, _ugh –_ that he hadn’t locked the door. And Tetsurou never told him to.

* * *

 

“So,” Shouyou said, on Monday morning, when they stepped out of the dorm building, Kenma sipping on some apple juice. “You had a break in, and then you went on a date with the intruder. 

Kenma choked. _“It wasn’t a date.”_

“It was too a date! You went to _Beans and Crèmes_ and had apple pie with extra whipped cream that _he_ paid for and sat in a corner at a table for two and – “

“He dragged me there to treat me because he felt bad about ‘breaking in’,” Kenma muttered. “And it wasn’t even a break in, it was an accident.”

“You went though! You never go with me!”

“I go with you every week.”

Shouyou scowled. “Because I force you to.”

“Tetsurou forced me too.”

“You don’t even _know_ him!” His eyes widened and he stopped walking to gasp dramatically, and clutch his heart. “You’re using his first name! He was using yours too! What aren’t you telling me?!"

Kenma rolled his eyes. “He uses mine for reasons I don’t know. I use his because it’s easier for me to not confuse myself. I already have a Kuroo in my life.”

“Right, your cat. That he got along very well with,” Shouyou scowled. “It took me like, a month.”

 _Like I don’t know that_ , Kenma thought. He was still slightly annoyed about it, but then Kuroo had nuzzled his face into Kenma’s neck last night and he had kind of forgotten that he was supposed to be angry.

“You.” Shouyou punched him lightly in the arm. “Lock your door next time.”

Kenma sighed and pulled out his phone, occupying himself with it all the way to class.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh thank you so much for all the great comments and kudos! It means so much to me!
> 
> This is going to be the last update for a while, since my finals start tomorrow and last all the way through May, into the beginning of June, so I'll be busy with that! I might be able to write in the middle but I really doubt I'll have time. After 3rd June though, you can definitely expect more!
> 
> Enjoy!

“Lock your door,” Shouyou said, entering the apartment uninvited, as always. “Or you’ll end up on a date with a serial killer.”

Kenma scowled at his calculus homework, not even bothering to look up. An uneventful week had passed since the Break In – as Shouyou liked to call it; capitalization necessary – and everyone he knew was now aware of it, thanks to a certain someone. They also liked to nag at him about it – variations of ‘lock the fucking door or someone will come in again’ was all he heard anymore, albeit in (mostly) less colourful language. Not that it mattered, what they said, since he wasn’t going to listen.

It wasn’t even a ‘too much hassle’ thing anymore, like it had started off as. It was probably more of a ‘they say I should do it, but I’m stubborn and right, so I won’t do it’ thing by now. Either way, it didn’t matter, because the point was, he wasn’t going to lock the door. Nothing bad had happened yet, and even the ‘break in’ wasn’t an actual break in, so really, he had no incentive.

“Kenma,” Shouyou said, coming to sit next to him on the cough. He pulled Kuroo off from Kenma’s lap and onto his own. “Literally everyone is telling you to lock the door, so just humour them or something.”

He shrugged in response, picking up his calculator. He didn’t really understand why everyone still went on about it. He clearly wasn’t paying any heed to it. Why bother? Shouyou shook his head in exasperation – at least he knew when to give up – scratched Kuroo behind the ears, eliciting purring sounds. “So did you know I hit Kageyama in the face with a ball again, today?”

“Shocking.”

“So mean, Kenma.” Kuroo jumped off his lap and padded off to the bedroom, and Shouyou frowned and leaned back against the couch, spreading his arms and sighing. “Anyway, it was an accident and he looked so pissed off, it was terrifying. But he was nice about it.”

Kenma hummed. He knew where this was going. A long string of complaints about how scary Kageyama could be, which would turn into thoughtful reflection of how he wasn’t actually scary in the given situation, and then more complaints about mixed signals, followed by excessive pining. It wasn’t anything new. He’d listened to enough of those to last him a lifetime. He didn’t even know Kageyama personally, but thanks to Shouyou’s massive crush, he knew everything from his favourite ice-cream to the colour and pattern of his boxers last Monday – something he could have spent the rest of his life not knowing.

(He didn’t really coin Kageyama as the teddies type, honestly.)

He didn’t really mind, though. At least this way he wouldn’t have to talk. He was fine with listening. He was more comfortable just listening, honestly. Most of his friends were talkative – not that he had many of those – and that was how he preferred it.

“It’s so unfair,” Shouyou was saying. “He’s so dense.”

There it was. Kenma sighed. “Why don’t you just ask him out?”

Shouyou gasped dramatically. “I can’t do that! He’ll know I like him!”

“Isn’t that the point?”

“No, no, no. It’s not the point. You don’t understand, since you don’t like anyone and have never liked anyone in your life, which I don’t understand how you spent twenty years like this.” A pointed look accompanied the statement and Kenma scowled. He also knew where this was going. “Maybe you should – “

“I’m not interested in being interested in anyone, thanks.”

Shouyou pouted, but didn’t say anymore on the subject. “So! It’s Friday.”

“I know.”

“It’s dinner day.”

“I know.”

“Let’s just go to McDonald’s.”

Kenma hesitated for a fraction of a second and shrugged. Honestly, he’d expected Shouyou to go off and list down all the reasons they should try another new place, since he’d agreed last time, or go back to Beans and Crèmes because it was just that good, and he had mentally prepared himself to roll his eyes and go along with it. Not that he wanted to go to Beans and Crèmes. He just didn’t want to deal with all the persuasive techniques Shouyou came up with. He suspected that was maybe a half-lie, but didn’t dwell much on it. That would be breaking the norm. There was no reason for him to want to go to Beans and Crèmes and he refused to say anything about it.

“Let me finish my homework,” he said, and Shouyou nodded, getting off the couch to go looking for Kuroo again. Kenma stared at the numbers on the page and reminded himself he didn’t like new places and would much rather not go.

Except Beans and Crèmes wasn’t exactly a new place anymore, the annoying voice at the back of his mind said. The one that sounded like Shouyou. He shot an annoyed look in the direction of the bedroom.

* * *

 

The walk to the dining block was no different than usual – Kenma itching to use his phone, but keeping it in his pockets as agreed, and Shouyou talking about something or the other. Recently, it had been mostly about his desperate crush on his setter, so Kenma was admittedly surprised when the conversation turned to something that had happened during practice, but not related to Kageyama. He voiced as much and hid a smile when Shouyou turned bright red.

“I’m not obsessed, you know, stop making it sound like that!” He declared, folding his arms across his chest. Kenma raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I am, but whatever! If you don’t wanna listen, then don’t!”

“I’m listening,” Kenma said. “I’m just saying.”

“Whatever, okay! Stop bringing him up if he’s not around!”

You should try doing that, Kenma thought, but only shrugged. “What were you saying?”

“Yeah I was saying,” Shouyou continued. “That Lev thinks he’s going to be the ace, but obviously I am, so I told him there was no point in him being so enthusiastic about it and then Kuroo-san – ” he broke off and shot him a smug grin. Kenma rolled his eyes. “- and then Kuroo-san told us to stop messing around and threw balls in our faces – ”

Kenma sighed and looked at the ground, making his feet land in the middle of each tile with every step. Shouyou continued with his story, constantly emphasizing on the ‘Kuroo-san’, and Kenma rolled his eyes at how stupid it was. He’d met the guy once in his life, and Shouyou would not stop teasing. For what? Letting him sleep on his couch? So much teasing potential. He decided to tease Shouyou about Kageyama more often. Or at least mention him more in conversation.

 

  
McDonalds was jampacked, as usual, and Kenma refused to admit – even to himself – that he’d felt’ even the slightest but of hope that they could now go to Beans and Crèmes. They wouldn’t, he knew that. Shouyou wouldn’t make him, and he wouldn’t say it, so there was no point in being disappointed. He could always go there later, by himself. Maybe with his homework. He shook the thought away. No, that meant that he wanted to. Which he didn’t, because he had no reason to. Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, was something Shouyou would say to that, and Kenma decided he wasn’t going to think about it.

“Ah, there’s no empty tables,” Shouyou said, looking around in disappointment. “We could sit with someone we know, if you don’t mind? Or go somewhere else?”

“Yeah,” He said, about to agree to the latter, when a fairly large table with one occupant caught his eye. He smiled to himself and nodded in its direction. “Let’s go sit with Kageyama.”

“Yeah okay let’s just – wait what?!” Shouyou swiveled around to look and Kenma almost laughed at the panicked expression. “Oh my god, Kenma, no.”

“There’s no where else. Let’s sit with Kageyama.”

“I can’t sit there! I’m going to start spazzing and talking too much, and he’s totally going to find out and then I’ll die - ”

“You spend three hours with him everyday,” Kenma said. “If he was going to find out just from that, he’d know already.”

Shouyou’s eyes widened in horror and Kenma wondered why he’d worry that someone as dense as Kageyama would ever pick up on such subtle hints. He wasn’t exactly the smartest person in the world. Although maybe he should give him more credit – he was a genius volleyball player, after all. He probably could guess, if he paid enough attention, but Shouyou didn’t need to know that.

“If he really knows, Kenma – ”

“He doesn’t know, calm down.” Someone bumped into him from behind, and Kenma stepped forward in panic, bumping into his best friend. At least that seemed to snap him out of the worried frenzy he’d gotten into, because he grabbed Kenma by the arm and led him to Kageyama’s table.

“Yo,” Shouyou said, sliding into the chair opposite, not bothering to ask for permission. Kenma hesitantly took the one next to him. “We’re going to sit here because everywhere else is full.”

Kageyama looked at him blankly. “Kenma’s fine, but you go away.”

“So rude!”

“So are you! No one asked you to sit here!”

“Friends don’t ask, Kageyama-kun, I’m so offended.” He kicked him under the chair, and Kageyama kicked back, moving his legs out of the way before Shouyou could kick him again. He nodded a hello to Kenma as Shouyou started talking animatedly again. Kenma sighed and kept his eyes down, although he did watch the two from his peripheral vision. It occurred to him that they hadn’t ordered their food yet, but he decided not to say anything about it for now. He didn’t think Shouyou actually wanted to get up and go to the counter right now, anyway.

He took his phone out of his pocket, because their agreement was only valid if there wasn’t a third party. His attention diverted, Kenma almost didn’t notice the faint flush on Kageyama’s cheeks, and the way he seemed to offer all his attention to what Shouyou was saying. It wasn’t like Kenma hung out with many people, or talked to them, but all the time he spent alone during classes, he thought he was pretty good at reading expressions and actions, and he was almost certain he knew what that meant. Okay. He smiled down at the phone screen. Shouyou would be happy, although he didn’t need to know yet. He’d save this for a later time.

“Kenma-san!” A voice boomed from the entrance and almost everyone turned to look as one long-legged boy came bounding to their table with long strides, followed by an angry shorter one. “Kenma-san!” Lev cried, taking a seat without asking. “I’m so glad to see you here!”

“Oh,” was his weary response while Shouyou waved excitedly, and Kageyama looked annoyed at having the peace disturbed. Kenma returned that sentiment, honestly. He could give up on any plans of a quiet dinner now. He knew Lev. Of course he knew Lev. Everyone knew Lev. Lev was tall and loud and dumb – which was not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it got too much to handle – and he lived down the hall on Kenma’s floor. He was also the one who usually came barging into his apartment asking for things like spare mugs because he’d broken his, or a bar of soap because he’d forgotten to buy it and didn’t want to go all the way to the store. He played a huge role in the reason Kenma didn’t lock his door.

“Hi Lev! Yaku-san!” Shouyou said, equally loud. Yaku nodded an unenthusiastic greeting and pinched Lev in the arm.

“Didn’t I tell you not to yell so loudly in public?!”

“Ow – I was just excited to see Kenma-san!” He pulled Yaku into one of the chairs and leaned in too close for comfort. Kenma shifted back. Lev had never been one to respect personal space, but that didn’t mean he could ever get used to it. “Kenma-san! I heard you went on a date.”

Right, okay, what the hell. He scowled and opened his mouth to deny it, but Shouyou interrupted.

“He did!” He slung an arm over Kenma’s shoulder and Lev beamed. Yaku gave him a sympathetic look. Kageyama looked bewildered. “He went on a date with Kuroo-san,” Shouyou continued. “But he refuses to admit it.”

“Maybe,” Yaku said, dryly. “Because it wasn’t a date. Maybe it was a friendly outing that you’re looking too much into.

Kenma nodded gratefully, but it didn’t really matter, because Kageyama interjected with a “How can it be a friendly outing if they’re not friends?” looking thoughtful, and Kenma wanted to throw himself into the ocean.

This was not what he’d come here for. He had come to eat, and to fulfill his promise, and he really didn’t want to have to deal with this. Was there something wrong with being apologized to – very unnecessary and out-of-the-way methods, he would admit that much, but still – by someone who accidentally broke into his house? There wasn’t. There was nothing wrong with Tetsurou having been a nice person, and everyone was reading too much into it.

“Leave him alone,” Yaku scolded, pinching Lev’s cheek and shooting Shouyou a glare. “If he says it’s not a date then it’s not a date.”

“But Yaku-san, you don’t know Kenma-san enough to say - ”

“You don’t either.”

“But I do!” The look on Shouyou’s face was something like a proud father’s, and he shot Kenma another one of his smug grins – the ones he always did when he mentioned Tetsurou, or when he was making fun of Kageyama. Both of which were often enough. “And I can call him out on it!”

“There is nothing to call me out on.”

“It’s okay, Kenma. Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.” Shouyou patted his back, nodding wisely, and Kenma scowled. He couldn’t do much about it when his supposed best friend – who wasn’t acting like a best friend at all – teamed up with Lev to start talking about dates and break-ins and Kuroo-san, and Yaku held his head in exasperation. Kenma felt like doing the same. Kageyama only sipped his strawberry milkshake in confusion.

“Ah!” Lev exclaimed, standing up and waving energetically, and Kenma noticed the new entrees only a second before he spoke. “Kuroo-san! Come sit with us!”

Kenma blanched. Yaku pulled Lev down and hit him on the head, but it was too late. Besides, Shouyou had started doing the same thing. Kenma turned his attention to his phone. Right. He wasn’t going to talk. He wasn’t going to say anything, or eat anything or do anything. Maybe he should just get up and leave. It wasn’t like anyone could stop him.

“You guys are so loud,” Tetsurou said, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. Next to him, a guy who looked like an owl – who Kenma assumed was the Bokuto he’d mentioned – took a seat as well. He risked a look at Tetsurou’s face and was entirely unsurprised when his expression turned to thrill. “Kenma! Hi!”

Shouyou and Lev cackled in unison, and Kenma’s face flushed. He wasn’t going to talk to either of them for a month.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT IM JUST  
> im lazy. i have no excuses. im really sorry.
> 
> anyway yeah have some more shenanigans! thanks for all the comments and kudos <3
> 
> this chapter is dedicated to my best friend, under the pseud kirsi on here, and her otp is bokuaka so i put some of that in too ;D plus you should all check out her bokuaka tarzan au it is gold :o 
> 
> enjoy!

Kuroo made the unfortunate mistake of not knocking before entering the apartment. After so many years of having been Bokuto’s friend, he thought he’d probably have learnt his lesson by now, but apparently he being the idiot he was, had not learnt anything at all. Giving an unamused, disgusted look at the couple on the couch – Akaashi’s hair askew and Bokuto’s hands at the fly of his pants – he went into the kitchen. After having to witness such a spectacle, he decided, he was completely entitled to stealing some of the pizza that he knew was in the fridge. Unless Bokuto had woken up in the middle of the night, in which case the fridge would be empty.

He had made his way through half a slice when Bokuto sauntered in shirtless, looking entirely unashamed at having been caught doing the dirty, followed by Akaashi who was the complete opposite. Kuroo thought it was funny when Akaashi blushed, because his otherwise stoic, mature face would look like that of a child being caught stealing from the cookie jar – which, now that he thought about it, was somewhat the case here – and it was actually pretty cute to look at, if he had to admit. Which he wouldn’t. At least not to _Bokuto_ , because that’d only result in him being thrown out the sixth floor window.

“What’s up?” Bokuto asked, snatching the half-eaten slice of pizza from him and Kuroo scowled.

“I distinctly remember teaching you how to lock doors.”

“I don’t want to, though.”

Kuroo sighed and rolled his eyes. At least Akaashi had the decency to look embarrassed. How someone so sensible started dating someone so shameless, Kuroo would never know. “You stole my pizza.”

“It was _my_ pizza.”

“And _I_ was eating it!”

“Whatever, who cares.” Bokuto took a bite, frowning at the strand of cheese that he didn’t quite manage to get into his mouth and looked back at Kuroo. “Why are you here, anyway?”

“I was bored.”

“So you decided to cockblock me.”

“ _I_ didn’t ask you to leave your door unlocked!”

“Well, if you’re bored, then go downstairs.” Bokuto waggled his eyebrows and gave him a grin. “To Pudding-chan.”

“Excuse me?”

“Pudding-chan! Kenma! His hair looks like pudding.”

Kuroo sighed and threw his arms up in exasperation. He’d made the mistake of telling Bokuto about Kenma because all he heard anymore were crude comments that made Akaashi cringe in horror. It was worse considering Bokuto actually _knew_ Kenma – which wasn’t actually surprising, given Bokuto knew everyone, regardless of whether or not they knew him. Kuroo thought Kenma probably didn’t know Bokuto though, because he hadn’t acknowledged him at all that day at McDonalds. Though now, when he thought about it, it was probably just nervousness – Kenma didn’t look like the type to really enjoy social interaction.

He should probably go apologize for Bokuto’s antics.

He hadn’t expected Kenma to be there when Lev had called him over to the table, and okay, for the first few seconds he’d been really happy to see him there because he hadn’t ever seen Kenma around on campus before. And then Bokuto had squawked – literally squawked – in recognition and had spent the rest of the time telling everyone about how Kuroo was now single and throwing suggestive looks in Kenma’s direction.

Right, he should probably kill Bokuto for that, too.

“I am not supposed to be with Kenma,” Kuroo emphasized on the name – what kind of stupid nickname was Pudding Boy? “And you need to stop saying that I am.”

“Why?” Bokuto asked, through a mouthful of pizza. “He’s perfect for you! He’s tiny and cute and he’s just your type!”

Kuroo scowled.

“I didn’t know Kuroo-san had a type,” Akaashi said, frowning thoughtfully at the ceiling. “Everyone he’s dated so far have been different.”

“Keiji, my man,” Bokuto exclaimed, making dramatic gestures and almost slapping Kuroo in the face with his half-slice of pizza. “Everyone Kuroo’s dated so far has been small and shy! Or quiet. But they all look different.”

“I see, so Kuroo-san likes people who are the exact opposite of what he is.”

Scowling, Kuroo turned back to the fridge to get out more pizza. Maybe today wasn’t the best of days to have come here. First he sees his two best friends getting it on, and then they stand around and make discuss his love life. He should have gone to Oikawa’s instead. Although, he thought, Oikawa would probably be something like this as well, considering Kenma was right next door to him, so maybe that wasn’t exactly the best idea.

Seeing that there was no more pizza in the fridge, he settled for the leftover Chinese that was probably Akaashi’s. Good, he could eat all their food and then maybe they’d stop talking about him as if he wasn’t there – and in Bokuto’s case, stop making jabs at his love life.

He left the two in the kitchen after heating up the food, and went to the living room, purposefully avoiding the couch and seating himself on the floor in front of the T.V, flipping through the channels to find something interesting. It had been a boring day.

He’d almost overslept and had made it just in time for practice, after which everyone rushed to their morning classes. He hadn’t had any until the afternoon, after which he’d eaten at the diner and then come straight here, because there was nothing to do at his own apartment. Sometimes, he wished he had a roommate, but then the thought of being paired up with someone like Lev crossed his mind and he decided he was happy as he was.

“Kuroo-san,” Akaashi said, as he emerged out of the kitchen. Bokuto followed. He sat down on the couch behind Kuroo and rested a hand on his shoulder. “You _have_ dated people before, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to ask Kenma-san out on a date, should it?”

“If you want, I can hook you up! I know the best way!” Bokuto cried, throwing himself at Kuroo, making him drop his food and Kuroo cursed. He pushed Bokuto off to glare at him. “No seriously, though, it’s so simple. Even _owls_ make it more simple than you do.”

Kuroo sighed and shook his head. Why did no one understand? He was perfectly capable of asking Kenma out, of course he was. And he _would_ if he wanted to. But he didn’t want to, because he didn’t like Kenma in a romantic way, so he wouldn’t. Then it hit him what Bokuto had said. “Owls?” he asked, cautiously. Where had that come from? “Akaashi, why are you with this guy? What is attractive about him beside his body?”

“Hey!”

“If it’s for shallow reasons,” he continued, ignoring Bokuto, who stood up and left. Out of offense, probably, Kuroo thought, “I understand. But really, what do you see in him? What, does he hoot during sex or something and you get turned on because you’re equally weird?”

The tips of Akaashi’s ears turned pink and Kuroo’s jaw dropped. “You’re shitting me.”

“I don’t get _turned on_ – ” Akaashi began, but was interrupted by a deafening screech that had them both jumping in their seats and holding their hands over their ears to protect themselves from permanently losing any hearing ability.

“What,” Kuroo said slowly, lowering his hands. “Do you think you’re doing?”

Bokuto turned around where he stood on the balcony, his hands held up around his mouth to make his voice louder. He shot an excited grin back at Kuroo. “I’m hooking you up!” He exclaimed, before turning back around to screech again. Kuroo blinked, bewildered.

Okay, so they had been friends long enough for him to actually expect something like this from his best friend, but most of the time, his antics actually had purpose. He turned to Akaashi. “What is happening?”

“Screeching,” Akaashi said, as Bokuto came flouncing back into the living room to stand behind him. “Is part of owl mating behavior.”

“Are you serious.”

“He means well.”

“Please don’t tell me _this_ is what turns you on.”

“It’s _not_ ,” Akaashi said, but the way he turned bright pink gave Kuroo a different idea. He held his head in his hands. His friends were insane. Maybe Oikawa would have been better than this, still. So he’d make jabs at Kuroo being single, big deal. He didn’t need to know the details of his best friend’s bedroom activities.

“I’m leaving,” he said, standing up. Screw the food. He could just stop by the dining block. He was still exhausted, but he wasn’t going to stick around for screeching and more information than he knew what to do with. When Bokuto took a deep breath and screeched again, he wasn’t surprised at all. Somewhere in the distance, he heard someone curse, and mentally apologized to everyone in the building who had to deal with this.

Owl mating behaviour, what the fuck. As if that would help hook anyone up.

 _Wait a second_ , he thought. That’s what this was, wasn’t it? An attempt to hook him up. With _Kenma_. Who happened to live _right underneath._

Kuroo darted towards the balcony.

* * *

Kenma knew everyone in the building was – strange. He’d dealt with loud thumping from upstairs and next door – and he knew exactly what caused it; loud, bad music playing from Lev’s room. Sometimes, someone would open their door wide and blast Korean girl group songs. Other times – Kenma set his PSP down and got off the bed as another loud screech filled the air – it was things like this.

He’d recognized Bokuto instantly, when he’d seen him at McDonalds. Anyone would recognize Bokuto, after all. He was loud and popular and good looking, and was often the anomaly in terms of grades. Top of the class, or a zero. It depended on his mood. He’d study when he wanted to, and didn’t when he didn’t want to. That kind of stuff didn’t really matter to Kenma, though. It wasn’t like they shared any classes, it was just what he’d heard.

What he _did_ share with Bokuto though, was a dorm building, and oftentimes, he’d hear things from upstairs – screeching, hooting, loud cursing, bad puns – Bokuto wasn’t a very soft spoken person.

So when he heard the screeching, he wasn’t really surprised, although it was sudden enough to startle him into falling off the bed. It _hurt_.

He sighed as he picked himself off the floor, scowling at the new bruise on his elbow and ignored the way Kuroo hissed at the loud screeching. He made his way to the balcony to close the door so he could maybe have some peace, wondering why he was the only normal person he knew. It was ten at night – if the warden heard them, they’d be in a lot of trouble. And given the way it sounded louder now, Bokuto was probably in the balcony, which made it all the more likely that they’d get into trouble and everyone in the building would be in charge of something like garbage duty. That’s what it’d been last time, at least. Kenma had kept himself hidden away in his apartment, pretending he was sick when the warden came to see why he wasn’t downstairs yet.

He sighed now, rolling his eyes at Kuroo who was now looking around in a mix of desperate panic and annoyance. _You should be used to it by now_ , Kenma told him telepathically – not that would work, considering Kuroo was a cat, and one who was so incredibly stubborn about the amount of human interaction he was exposed to. Either way, Kenma thought he should be used to it, and scoffed as he made his way to shut the balcony door.

There was someone else up there, he noticed immediately. There was definitely Bokuto’s voice – he’d heard enough of it to recognize it by now. He was arguing with someone, with occasional shrieking and screeching mixed in, after which it would suddenly be muffled, suggesting that whoever it was, had his hand over Bokuto’s mouth.

“He’s going to hear you!” said whoever it was, voice low enough for it to be understood that he didn’t want anyone to hear him, and was instantly followed by Bokuto’s loud, “That’s the point isn’t it! He lives right underneath, so he should hear!”

Kenma frowned. They were definitely talking about him, weren’t they? He stepped out onto the balcony, annoyance only increasing when his feet touched the cold tiles and the wind blew his hair around, messing it up. Not that it had been in a less unruly condition anyway – he’d been lying in bed, after all – but still. Having hair blown into your face wasn’t a nice thing to happen to you.

“I’m trying to sleep,” he mumbled, leaning over the railing and looking up, just as Bokuto screeched again and someone else yelled, “Stop trying to apply bird mating behaviours to my life!”

Kenma blinked at the sight. “Tetsu – Kuroo?”

Kuroo Tetsurou blinked down at him, a hand over Bokuto’s mouth and the other pushing him down – who looked ecstatic, despite being this close to falling to his death – and Kenma noted every shade of red his face went through before settling on the deepest one. Tetsurou laughed nervously and pulled Bokuto back up.

“This is not – this isn’t what it looks like, honestly.”

“I’m not sure what it looks like,” Kenma replied, because honestly, he wasn’t. His neighbour s were weird, and they were – to quote, ‘applying bird mating behaviours to their lives’. Whatever that meant. Bird mating behaviours?

“It’s nothing, okay, he’s an idiot, that’s all it is,” Tetsurou told him, waving a hand in nonchalance.

“I heard him say _Tetsu!_ ” Bokuto yelled in the background and then his face popped up over the railing, grinning down at him. “Why are you on first name basis?!”

Kenma felt his own face flush. He hadn’t meant to let that slip. It wasn’t like him to be on first name basis with someone so easily, even if he didn’t really care about things like honorifics and status. Other people did, and he did care about what others thought of him, even if he didn’t let on.

“We’re not on first name basis!” Tetsurou said, indignantly, attempting to pull Bokuto back, though to no avail. “Tell him, Kenma.”

“You called him Kenma! You _are_ on first name basis!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

“I don’t mind,” Kenma said, interrupting, even though he’d thought his voice was soft enough to have gone unheard. He shrugged when two pairs of eyes turned to look at him in surprise. “Everyone calls me Kenma. Kozume feels weird.”

“Yeah, _that’s_ why I call him Kenma!”

Bokuto rolled his eyes, leaning forward more. Kenma thought he’d fall over any second. Maybe that wouldn’t be too bad, considering the weird noises would stop. _That’s a terrible thing to think_ , he told himself. He didn’t want anyone to _die_ , even if they were extremely annoying.

“I’m trying to sleep,” he said now, and Kuroo nodded a little too vigorously, wrenching Bokuto away from the railing.

“Sorry we disturbed you,” he said. “Go to sleep. Say hi to Kuroo for me.”

_“Wait, there’s another Kuroo?”_

Kenma nodded, ignoring Bokuto and turned away to make his way back to his room, although he stopped at the balcony door. He bit his lip to keep from smiling when Tetsurou semi-screamed out in frustration – probably thinking he’d left – yelling profanities that slowly got fainter as he went back inside the apartment, probably. Bokuto’s laugh was among there somewhere as well.

Kenma was – just the slightest bit confused. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened here, although he thought it was probably another one of those attempts at trying to suggest that he and Tetsurou were together – or at least, not in the very platonic relationship they really were in.

Actually, it wasn’t even platonic, because his only interactions with Tetsurou had been by accident, and he didn’t know him well at all. People were stupid. This was such a Shouyou thing to do. Bokuto was _just_ like Shouyou. Bigger and more muscular, though.

Shouyou, he realized, must never find out about this either.

It was slightly annoying though, when he thought about it. This ‘coincidence’ was going too far – why was Tetsurou popping up everywhere? Okay, so maybe it had been a coincidence the first time – that was understandable. But honestly, now that he thought about it, who apologized in the form of a breakfast treat? At an expensive _café_.

 _Everyone is weird,_ he thought to himself, getting back into bed and ignoring Shouyou’s text about locking the door. How many times did he have to leave the door unlocked before people got off his case? He picked up his PSP and resumed the game, hitting buttons rapidly as Kuroo jumped onto his stomach and curled up there. Kenma cursed under his breath when his character died, throwing his arms out in frustration. He was too preoccupied.

 _Why_ was Tetsurou showing up everywhere? Why did everyone insist they were _together_? Or tried to get them together, if today’s incident was anything to go by. That was definitely an attempt to try and get them together, wasn’t it? Or to get them to _talk_ at least. _Bird mating behaviour_. He did a quick Google check on his phone to affirm the answer. Yup. Owls. Honestly, he couldn’t say he was surprised.

Kenma turned his eyes to Kuroo, lying on his stomach. He scratched him behind the ears, smiling at the soft purr. “Tetsurou says hi,” he murmured, immediately feeling stupid, and for some reason, felt his face flush. He’d never done that before. He’d never passed on any messages for Kuroo before – because for some reason, people felt the need to send messages to a _cat_ , and Kenma thought that was stupid.

Then why did he do it _now_?

 _Because you’re just thinking about it too much_. He put his phone and PSP away and snuggled deeper under the blankets. Honestly, he was really curious now. There was only so much that fell within the parameter of _coincidence_ and this – these frequent meetings couldn’t be just _coincidence_.

 _Maybe he’s a stalker_ , Kenma entertained the thought. _Maybe he has a crush on me_.

Snorting at himself, he rolled over, making Kuroo meow loudly in agitation, but ignored it in favour of closing his eyes and hoping the thought would be gone when he woke up the next morning.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> C R I E S 
> 
> I am so sorry about how late this chapter was I'm sososososo sorry. College started around a month ago and things have been terrible. I've been really down recently about a lot of things and as a result I got major writers block (idk how that works but well) so yeah, this chapter has been lying half-written in my drafts for a million years and I just didn't know how to complete it. 
> 
> I'm still not sure I like it very much but well, it's better than nothing, I guess. I wanted it up before season 2 aired, but I'm just a few days off so that's fine, maybe. I'm so excited for season 2! More cats and more owls and more cuteness ahhh
> 
> OH, ten million shoutouts to my best friend [kirsi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirsi) for beta-ing and helping me escape writer's block, and for all the many amazing ideas she's given me for this fic. Love you!
> 
> Again, thanks for the amazing response and for waiting so long! Have some more shenanigans! Enjoy <3

Of course, that was probably too much to ask for – not that he’d ever doubted that fact. Kenma woke with only one thing in mind: _I think Kuroo Tetsurou has a crush on me._

He wasn’t entirely sure how _maybe_ had turned into _I think_ , but it had evolved over night, turning a hypothetical statement to a somewhat convinced hypothetical statement, and Kenma suspected it had something to do with how long he’d spent mulling over the thought last night. Longer than necessary, that was for sure. But really, how could he sleep with that in mind? It was totally justified.

It also meant he’d been up till at least three in the morning, and was now incredibly sleepy. Something Shouyou would, of course, be very proud of him for. Not. Kenma pushed himself up, cursing the alarm for being so loud and annoying as he made his way to the bathroom. Kuroo meowed angrily at said alarm and Kenma agreed.

Maybe he could skip his morning class entirely – he wasn’t _late_ yet, but he could be if he spent just the extra five minutes checking his social media before leaving. That probably wasn’t a good idea though. Staying back at the dorm would mean having nothing to distract him, and then he’d end up thinking about Unthinkable Things again. But then, Kenma thought, economics would bore him enough to make him start thinking of Unthinkables, anyway.

His phone buzzed just as he went back to the room – an angry text from Shouyou demanding he hurry up and that being late was no excuse for being absent. He rolled his eyes at the number of kaomojis accompanying the text and the fact that Shouyou had somehow managed to guess exactly what he was thinking.

 _Well, of course_ , he told himself. _When has he ever not?_

The sudden cold air against his skin when he took his pajamas off helped in getting rid of some of the drowsiness and Kenma decided maybe he should just go to class and save himself one more available absence. He could use it to stand in another long line when a new game got released or something.

Kenma sighed in annoyance at the attendance policies and left the house after leaving some food out for Kuroo for whenever he decided to wake up.

Shouyou was already in the lobby downstairs, and had just been about to come up. He had his finger against the elevator button and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw an awake and alive Kenma downstairs on time.

“I thought I’d have to come and kick you off the bed again,” he said, cheerfully, as they walked outside. Or, Kenma walked, and Shouyou skipped. How he was so fresh and cheery so early in the morning, Kenma would never know, but this was Shouyou after all.

“There’s no need to do that ever,” he said. It had happened before, and wasn’t the most fun thing he’d experienced. Kuroo had also fallen off though, and had scratched Shouyou’s arm for it. Kenma had laughed long and hard. “Won’t you be late, if you walk me to class?”

“Oh, my class isn’t till ten, so I’m good.” Shouyou bounced ahead of him as Kenma followed with his eyes on the ground, pondering over last night’s events. He _could_ tell Shouyou, of course he could. They were best friends, after all, and that’s what best friends did, didn’t they? Shouyou felt no need to keep anything from him – including things he really didn’t need or want to know – so maybe he should return the favour? But this was about _Kuroo Tetsurou,_ and the last thing he’d told Shouyou about him had resulted in an annoying rumour about his sad (lack of a) love life. Yeah, no.

He’d find out without Kenma telling him, anyway.

But then – Shouyou would know what to do in this situation. He’d had crushes. He’d been confessed to once, back in high school, and he’d gone out with someone for a bit as well. It wasn’t Experience with a capital E, but it was more than what Kenma had, so maybe it wouldn’t hurt.

“Suppose,” he began, and Shouyou looked up from his attempts to walk exactly two tiles at a time, “Suppose – hypothetically – that someone liked you. What would you do?”

Unsurprisingly, Shouyou’s jaw dropped. He stopped in his tracks to stand in front of Kenma, gawking at his face. “Someone _likes_ you?!” he screeched, and Kenma winced, looking around in panic to make sure no one was around to hear. He really did not need the entire student body knowing about his possibly-probably-false-hypothesis. Not that it would make a difference, since practically nobody knew him, but what if someone did?

“I said _hypothetically_ ,” he told Shouyou. “And don’t be so loud.”

“Everyone knows that a ‘hypothetical’ situation is actually a real one that’s supposed to be secret.” Shouyou leaned forward with a devious looking smile that Kenma had learnt not to trust. “So who is it?”

“It’s _no one_.”

“Come _on_ , Kenma, I’m supposed to be your best friend! You can tell me anything!”

“I would, if there was anything to tell.” Kenma scowled at the way Shouyou raised an eyebrow at him and pushed past. “I have class, I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll find out, you know!” Shouyou yelled, shaking a fist at him as he walked away briskly towards his escape. “You’ll see!”

Kenma sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. Yeah, maybe that wasn’t so helpful. It’s not like he’d ever expected it to be, anyway. Why had he phrased it like that? Of _course_ it’d seem suspicious, and Shouyou was always one to latch onto any suspicion and make sure there was nothing behind it. He’d find out what Kenma was talking about for sure, even without anyone ever telling him. Shouyou was super smart when it came to things he didn’t need to know about.

 _Well,_ he thought as he squeezed through the crowds in the academic block. _It’s just Shouyou._

 

* * *

 

His class was on the top floor, and the elevator had left without him when he got to it. His class was going to start in six minutes, and he would be marked absent, because his teacher sucked. Mumbling complaints under his breath, Kenma ran up the stairs to his classroom. He really should just have skipped today. Screw attendance policies.

He was panting when he got to the classroom, but he’d made it in time. The door wasn’t locked, which meant his teacher hadn’t started his lecture yet. He still got looks as he stepped in, and it made him uncomfortable. Hiding behind his bangs, he made his way to one of the empty seats he could see that weren’t right in front of the class and sat down.

It wasn’t a very good place to be able to use his phone, but if he adjusted himself, maybe he could use it behind his bag so the teacher wouldn’t see. Kenma shrugged the bag off his shoulders and set it on the table in front of him, hoping someone would ask a lot of questions so the attention would remain away.

He noticed someone slide into the seat in front of him, though he wasn’t actually paying enough attention to see who, until that someone turned around.

“Ah, Kozume-san.”

Kenma jumped in his seat, almost dropping his phone as he looked up in surprise , shock, horror, whichever worked. Probably all three. His eyes met a pair of heavy lidded, blue ones and he blinked at the smiling face in front of him before processing what was happening.

Akaashi Keiji, from what Kenma knew, was a nice, smart guy with good grades and the potential to have a fanclub. He was also on the volleyball team. And he was addressing him about something or the other, and frankly, Kenma was somewhat skeptical about whether or not he wanted to know what it was.

“I’m really sorry about last night, Kozume-san,” Akaashi said, turning his chair around further to properly face him. “Sometimes Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san can be very childish, but they don’t mean any harm.”

Kenma blinked stupidly. “Uh. Yeah.”

“Kuroo-san was very upset about having disturbed you so late at night.”

“I, um. Wasn’t disturbed.” Akaashi had very messy hair, Kenma noticed. It still looked nice, though, like it was messy on purpose. It reminded him of Tetsurou. His hair also looked nice, even though it was a total mess. 

_Don’t go there._

“Regardless.” Akaashi smiled. “I’ll see you around.”

Kenma nodded silently and stared at the back of the other’s head as he turned around to face the teacher. Class was starting and talking or using your phone was not allowed. That wasn’t a problem right now though, since Kenma was too preoccupied to do either. How did _Akaashi_ of all people find out about last night?

 _Maybe_ , his mind supplied, _maybe Tetsurou’s been_ talking _about you._

He shook his head to get the thought out of his brain. That was stupid. It was a weird thing to happen so naturally, he’d tell people. Although, when you considered things, hanging out with someone like Bokuto would mean weird things were probably not that weird anymore. Something like this wasn’t even of any relevance, since nobody knew Kenma enough for it to be a big deal. Unless, of course, Tetsurou had been talking about him.

 _Shut_ up _, you stupid brain._

 

* * *

 

Shouyou had only one thing in mind all day – which was strange, since he usually went from one thought to another really fast. But then this was a Big Thing so maybe it wasn’t that strange. He dribbled the ball in his hand and watched the seniors play on the other side of the gymnasium. Coach Ukai had forced the first years – or more specifically, him and Kageyama – to take a break, which was obviously not fair since they still had enough energy to keep playing, but Coach’s word was law.

Still, it was fine, he supposed. He could get time to think about things. More specifically, what Kenma had said to him this morning. _Kenma_ thought someone liked him.

Kenma was sensible, and had good people-reading skills. If _Kenma_ thought someone liked him, he was most likely right. Shouyou scowled when he missed the ball and looked at Kageyama standing next to him, who was still going, counting every time the ball hit the ground.

“Hey Kageyama,” he murmured. “If someone liked you, what would you do?”

That was sort of funny, he thought, since someone really _did_ like him. Not that Kageyama knew. Or would ever know, most likely. This was a good excuse for him to get answers about some things. _Thank you, Kenma._

“What the hell?” Kageyama sputtered and cursed loudly when he missed the ball in surprise. Shouyou snickered, earning a glare. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?!”

“It was just an innocent question, Kageyama- _kun_.”

“No, it was a stupid one.”

“Why, you don’t think someone can like you?”

“O-of course they can! Don’t be stupid, dumbass.” There was a faint tinge of pink in Kageyama’s face that would have been lost, had they not been standing in the light creeping in from the windows. Shouyou stared for a good five seconds before realizing what he was doing. He looked away, feeling heat rise up the back of his neck.

“Well then,” he said. “What would you do?”

“What do you mean what would _I_ do, I’d do nothing.”

“Why not?”

“What do you expect me to do, anyway?”

Shouyou shrugged. “Aren’t you _supposed_ to do something when someone likes you?”

“No? If you like them back then you date them, I guess, but if you don’t like them back, then you probably just tell them that.”

Shouyou frowned at the floor. That sounded reasonable. That was very unlike Kageyama – he was an idiot who couldn’t read people at all. But Shouyou also remembered a few confessions, which was no surprise, so maybe he wasn’t actually as bad at this as Shouyou thought.

 _No_ , _he’s probably really good at this._

“Have you ever figured out someone likes you before they actually tell you themselves?”

Kageyama frowned. “How would I do that?”

Or not really that good at it. Shouyou sighed and shook his head. “Kenma says he thinks someone likes him.”

“I didn’t know Kenma was really up for romance.”

“He’s not.” Shouyou whistled as Bokuto-san shot a straight spike, winning a point for his team, that also won them the match. He high-fived Kuroo-san through the net. “But he says he _thinks_ someone likes him and he won’t tell me who.”

Kageyama hummed. “What would _you_ do?”

“Me?” Shouyou laughed. “I don’t think _I_ need to worry about that.”

“What is that supposed to mean.”

“Well, people don’t normally go for guys like me, you know,” _Not the people that mattered, anyway_. “I’m too short and loud, I think.”

“That’s stupid,” Kageyama said, slapping the back of his head and Shouyou yowled in pain, falling to his knees and catching everyone’s attention, probably. “There’s probably someone who’s going to fall in love with you _because_ you’re short and loud and stupid, so don’t think so low of yourself.”

Shouyou’s eyes widened. What was with that? His face felt hot – well of _course_ it did, thanks to his stupid, teenager crush – and there was most likely no difference between him and a fire truck right now. Stupid Kageyama with his mixed signals and throwaway comments. He stopped rubbing the sore spot on his head to look up at the other. There was –

 _No, it’s just an illusion,_ he told himself. _Kageyama’s face isn’t completely red right now._

He forced his eyes away and tried as best he could to subtly move a bit further as he pushed himself to his feet. They would be playing soon, now that the senior’s match was over, so he had to get rid of the tension, so they could play properly together.

“That was really cheesy,” he mumbled, and dodged Kageyama’s attempts to grab him by the collar and shake him violently. Experience had taught him many things.

“But think,” Shouyou said, frowning at the ceiling, not noticing that during the scuffle, their side of the gym wasn’t exactly empty anymore. “If Kenma likes this person _back_ , then he could be in a _relationship_.”

“ _Kenma_?”

“Yeah, like, it’s weird to think about, but _imagine!”_ He clapped his hands in glee, bouncing up and down on his toes. “Although he’d never tell _me_ if he did like them back, I’d tease him too much. I already made a big deal out of the whole deal with Kuroo-san – “

“I hear my name.”

The pair turned to look at the senior standing a few steps away with a towel around his neck. _He looks exactly like Kuroo_ , Shouyou thought and snickered to himself. Kuroo-san raised a quizzical eyebrow, as Bokuto-san sauntered up to him, Akaashi-san following.

“What’s happening here?” Bokuto-san sang as he joined them.

“Hinata says someone likes Kenma-san,” Kageyama said bluntly and Shouyou screeched, flailing his arms about as he pressed a hand against Kageyama’s mouth.

“It’s supposed to be a _secret!_ You’re not supposed to go _telling_ people!”

“Kenma – oh!” Bokuto-san snapped his fingers in recognition. “The cute guy who lives below me. Who Kuroo is on first name basis with. Who he kept up all night last night – ”

“That’s a fucking lie and you know it.”

Ignoring the interruption, Bokuto-san continued. “You say someone _likes_ him? As in, has a _crush_ on him?”

Shouyou bit his lip. This wasn’t supposed to happen. No one was supposed to know about this – _especially_ not someone like Bokuto-san. This would spread too fast and Kenma was going to _kill_ him.

“He – no, I – no, he was saying it in a hypothetical way, you know,” He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Like, in the ‘what if someone liked you what would you do’ way.”

“Everyone knows that when you make up a hypothetical situation it’s just something that’s actually happening.” Bokuto-san threw an arm over Kuroo-san’s shoulder. “Imagine, our Pudding-chan growing up! Finding love!”

The whistle blew just then, calling the first years back for a match and Shouyou let himself be dragged away before he could get himself in any more trouble.

Seriously. Kenma was going to jail for murder and Shouyou didn’t blame him one bit.

 

 

 

“So did you hear that?”

Kuroo sighed in annoyance. “Yes, I heard that. I have ears.”

“If you’re not fast enough, Pudding-chan might already have a pretty boyfriend to mess around with, and you’d be a sad, lonely man,” Bokuto shrugged and took a drink from his water bottle. “Not that you’re not one already, but – ”

Kuroo threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “I’m not even into him that way – ”

“You could be, though,” Akaashi interrupted. “Potentially.”

“Not you too.”

“I’m going to find out who this person is.” Bokuto grinned to himself, eyes gleaming and Kuroo rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to deal with this right now. He didn’t have the energy to.

Still, it wasn’t like he wasn’t curious too. Someone liked Kenma – not surprising, really. Kenma was cute and intriguing, so it was understandable. It was weird to imagine him with a boyfriend though.

 _It’s none of your fucking business_.

He’d find out somehow, though, he knew that much. Bokuto wouldn’t rest until he did. 

 

* * *

 

 

Kenma mulled over the happenings of the day as he walked back to the dorm. He was sleepy and tired – nothing unusual about that – he had spent the whole of first period worrying about why Akaashi Keiji had known about last night’s events, and then lost all his ammo while playing games in second and third period and then lunch break because he was too preoccupied to pay attention. That had been a bad decision.

For the first time in very long, Kenma walked home alone _without_ staring at some screen or the other. Amazing, what a little drama in your love lives can do to change your routine. It was annoying. He wanted to go home and sleep for twenty years, so he wouldn’t have to voluntarily think about anything. His dorm building was still almost a seven minutes walk away.

Kenma groaned and threw his head back to stare at the sky – also a bad decision, because that meant he couldn’t see where he was walking, and so, bumped into something big, almost falling on his butt as a result.

Except he didn’t because the big something had caught him by the hand and was heaving him back into balance. Kenma almost jumped at sight of the smiling face of Kuroo Tetsurou, feeling his heartbeat suddenly speed up. Why was he _here_?

“That’s not safe you know,” he said, laughing. “People skateboard and stuff here sometimes, they could crash into you.”

“I wasn’t walking like that _all_ the way,” Kenma shot back.

Tetsurou shrugged. “Still, won’t hurt to be careful.” He paused. “You done for the day?”

Kenma nodded, trying not to make eye contact.

“Cool, so am I. I was just going back to my dorm. I’m going to sleep at least fifty hours.” He stretched and looked at Kenma. “You should sleep for a bit too. You were up pretty late last night.”

“Yes, you would know.”

Tetsurou laughed again, though this time it was distinguishably less casual. “Yeah, sorry about that. Bokuto can be a tool sometimes.”

“It’s fine,” Kenma said, and started walking again.

“Say hi to Kuroo for me!”

 _I won’t_ , he thought, but that was childish and he knew that. Still. Why had Tetsurou been there? Why was he _everywhere_?

Because, his mind offered, he has a crush on you.

_Stupid brain._

His mood somewhere between having darkened and normal, Kenma half-stomped back to his dorm and up the stairs to his floor, not bothering to take the elevator, because it would mean lingering in the hallway too long.  That was also a bad idea. He was exhausted as it was, and five floors up meant lots of stairs. There could be a reality show about him and his bad decisions. At least then he’d have fame and money along with all the issues.

His door was unlocked, as usual and he stormed into the house, slamming it shut behind him. The living room was a mess, like he’d left it, and he really didn’t want to clean it up right now. He kicked off his shoes when an innocent meow was heard, and Kuroo came strolling out of the bedroom with his tail up in the air, to rub against Kenma’s legs. Kenma sighed, some of his frustration meting away and he bent down to scratch Kuroo behind his ears. Kuroo purred.

“Did you miss me?” Kenma murmured softly. He smiled at the gentle, satisfied look on Kuroo’s face. “Today was a sucky day. Everything sucks.” He hummed. “Tetsurou said hi.”

Kuroo meowed angrily when the hand scratching him was suddenly retracted to slap against Kenma’s face. Why. Why did he do that? He was so _stupid._ Kenma stood up and went to throw himself on his bed. He needed sleep. He needed to get some rest, so his stupid brain could stop thinking of stupider things.

Kuroo followed him into the bedroom and Kenma scowled. “Go away,” he muttered. “Stop following me,” he said, sitting up to glare at his cat in irritation. Kuroo looked at him, bemused. “Why are all Kuroos like this? Always following me around. Stop doing that.”

Kuroo blinked. Kenma frowned and fell back on the bed, scowling at the bed sheets. All of this because of one, stupid, drunken night – and it wasn’t even _him_ who had been drunk.

He didn’t push Kuroo off when he jumped up on the bed to curl up on his stomach. His hands went to slowly rub his fur instead, and Kenma closed his eyes. It was only afternoon. The rest of the day could still technically go well.

Sleeping for the rest of his life sounded really appealing right now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would anyone forgive me for HOW LATE THIS IS???? im sorry, college is terrible i hate it. i'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS CHAPTER FOR LIKE....FIFTY YEARS....
> 
> seriously tho, i had the worst block for such a long time, and then i kinda stopped feeling hq so i couldnt bring myself to write it, and then i was also so tired cause college and homework and all these exams and wdugwefhfiwef i know its like im making excuses but im so sorry im a terrible writer pls forgive me
> 
> ALSO!! i cant believe i hit 1k kudos omg its a dream come true. thank you all so much for your support, i cant believe you're all so nice i love you guys so much i could cry!!! im cryin!!!!!
> 
> i'll try to update faster from now on, but pls bear with me!! ily all!!<3333

He didn’t manage to sleep. Not that he’d ever expected he’d be able to – it was hard to sleep when there were so many things running through his head. He’d tried anyway though, and all he’d gotten were two hours of excessively mulling over the day’s events and then giving up because it was the thinking he’d been trying to avoid.

Kenma got out of bed right when the door to his room flew open and in walked the person who had started this whole issue.

Honestly, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal if Shouyou hadn’t gone and called that first breakfast treat a _date_. He’d voiced as much many times, and had only gotten comments about how he was in denial, which was stupid, because he was denying something because it never happened but people only ever assumed denial meant the opposite and Kenma would never understand why.

He looked at Shouyou, who was standing at the doorway and giving him a look. It was the look of disappointment that he knew came from his door being unlocked again, but there was something else in that look.

_He’s stalling something_ , Kenma realized. _He’s trying to start the conversation naturally._

Shouyou wasn’t the only one who knew his best friend completely. Kenma waited.

“So,” Shouyou said finally, trying to put on an air of nonchalance, which only made the entire scenario more suspicious. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to the window, pretending to be very interested in what was outside. “So in a hypothetical situation – ”

“Get to the point.”

“Okay fine!” He threw his hands up in the air and turned around. “I may have accidentally told everyone that you have, like. You know. A secret admirer. Or something.”

Kenma froze. _What_.

“Who is ‘everyone’?” He asked cautiously, although he was fairly certain he already knew. In fact, he didn’t know why he bothered asking, because hearing it from someone else would mean it wouldn’t be just a hypothesis anymore, it’d be solid fact.

“Well, I was telling _Kageyama_ , okay, but then Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san and Akaashi-san also heard and - ”

“Get out of my house.”

“ _I said it was an accident!”_

“I should _accidentally_ throw you out the window.”

“ _I’m sorry_ , _Kenma-san!_ ” Shouyou cried and clapped his hands together. “Please don’t kill me!”

Kenma shook his head. He was twenty years old: perpetually tired, spent his life in bed playing video games and cursing the world, and limited his social interaction to an overexcited boy he’d known since he was a kid, and a cat. Both of which liked to ruin his life. He was too old for this, really. He needed a three year long nap.

“I’ll give you a ten second head start,” he told Shouyou. “If you leave, then you’re fine. Otherwise I have Kageyama’s number.”

“That’s unfair!” Shouyou cried. “I didn’t do anything _that_ drastic!”

“One.”

“Kenma-sama, please don’t do this to me!”

Kenma sighed and shook his head. It was a bad day. No, it was a bad week – a bad month, a bad year, and a bad decade and he was tired. He went out to the living room where Kuroo was sleeping on the sofa, and started banging around the pots and pans in the kitchen. If he couldn’t sleep properly, neither should Kuroo. He’d also had a part to play in this whole dilemma. Traitor.

Kuroo threw him a dirty look and stalked off to the bedroom as Shouyou came out, looking genuinely apologetic.

“I swear, I never meant for it to spread. I’m sorry. I was just talking to Kageyama.” Kenma looked at his best friend – standing there, giving him a puppy dog look that meant he was genuinely sorry, because Shouyou just didn’t do puppy dog for Kenma unless he meant it, and fidgeting with his hands. Kenma raised an eyebrow. There was the faintest hint of a blush on Shouyou’s cheeks.

“What did you get out of it then?”

“Huh?”

“You were ‘talking’ to Kageyama, weren’t you?” Kenma said. “What happened?”

Shouyou flushed, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. He took a deep breath and shrugged. “I – well, he said I was _likable_.”

“Well, you are.”

“ _Then why doesn’t he like me!”_

Kenma sighed, shaking his head. Honestly, dealing with a lovesick, dense best friend was kind of exhausting. Not that he minded, but still. It was so obviously a mutual crush, he didn’t understand why Shouyou couldn’t see that. Then again, Shouyou had never been the best at reading people – especially someone as frigid and reserved as Kageyama.

“No one ever said he doesn’t,” Kenma told him. “Maybe you’re just too conscious of yourself around him to be conscious of _him_ , you know?”

Shouyou snorted. “Yeah, right. And maybe you’re too conscious of Kuroo-san to be conscious of your own feelings.”

“Get out of my house.”

“It was a _joke_!”

“I don’t care. Go away.”

“You’re such a bad friend, you’re pushing me away.”

Kenma turned to give him a look before slowly taking his hand and dragging him to the front door. Shouyou screamed, struggling a bit, but Kenma’s grip was strong. The upside to playing lots of video games was that he had strong fingers. Or something. He pushed a screaming Shouyou out, and closed the door behind him, turning the lock.

“ _Oh! So now you lock your door!”_

Kenma snorted, softly, making his way to the kitchen to get something to eat, ignoring the threats Shouyou threw at him from the other side of the door.

He was lying in bed, nibbling on a piece of cinnamon bread he’d found, just having finished watching the latest episode of the cheesiest drama on the planet when he heard a loud thud from the upper floor. Kenma scowled. Seriously, this was the last thing he needed today. He’d had a busy day, he was tired and frustrated – the drama hadn’t helped in getting his mind off things – and he wanted peace for like. One day. Maybe two. Two was probably asking for too much, so one. Even one was fine.

But that was apparently also too much to ask for.

A loud scream drifted in from the balcony, startling Kuroo enough to come bounding into the bedroom, meowing hysterically. Kenma sighed, closing his laptop and getting out of bed to close the balcony door. He loved his apartment, he really did – it was small and comfortable and kind of hard to reach since it was in the last dorm – but he had the most annoying neighbours who made too much noise.

Kuroo followed him out, and Kenma stopped a moment at the door to take in the fresh nighttime air. It was good weather tonight. Not too humid, or dry, and there was a very nice wind. He could sit here and play something, it’d probably feel nice.

His phone buzzed, and Kenma opened it to read Shouyou’s message.

_ur_ _not still mad at me are u? I said I was sorry pls don’t be mad :ooooo_

For god’s sake – Kenma scowled, closing the app. He wasn’t going to respond now. He didn’t need the constant reminder, day in and day out, that his life was taking on the dramatic turn of one of his cheesy dramas. Why couldn’t people just _let it go?_

Kuroo mewed softly, rubbing his head against Kenma’s pants and Kenma’s scowl deepened. “This is all your fault, you know?!” He snapped, raising his voice a little. “Why are you like this? Why did you have to be _Kuroo?”_

The cat gave him an unamused look, frustrating him further. Seriously, could _no one_ understand his feelings?

“Why do you have to go around like that? Warming up to everyone so they think you like them, and then making _me_ suffer because of it? Stop doing that, I hate you – don’t give me that cute face, with your stupid big eyes, you stupid mess of hair, it makes me like you too much.”

Kuroo yawned, and Kenma sighed, bending down to pet him and feeling that annoying pull of affection in his stomach when Kuroo leaned into the touch. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, you know I love you, right?”

 

* * *

 

 

“Keiji, I swear, I’m _so frustrated right now,”_ Bokuto said, pacing the room, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. Keiji sat on the sofa with a bored expression and watched in all the boredom his expression showed – which was a lot. “You don’t _understand_.”

“I understand,” Keiji told him. “But it’s really none of your business. It’s for Kuroo-san and Kozume-san to care about; you shouldn’t butt into their business like that.”

“But! But I want my bro to be happy!”

“He’s not particularly _unhappy_ , though.”

“I want him to be _happier_ than he is right now.”

“It’s none of your business, Koutarou.”

“It’s about my bro, I will _make_ it my business.” Bokuto threw himself on the couch, across Keiji’s lap, pouting. Was it really so hard for Kuroo to admit he liked Kenma? It wasn’t. And Kenma was supposed to be smart, right? Wasn’t that what Hinata had said? He should have figured out that they were meant to be, they should have _gotten together_ by now.

“Do you think I should tell Kenma that – “

“Koutarou,” Keiji said, and his voice was firm. “Let them be.”

“Fine.” He’d leave them alone. For now.

That thought didn’t last too long though, because suddenly, Kenma’s voice rose up from downstairs, saying the most interesting things, and despite the fact that Akaashi tried to pull him back and voiced heavy disapproval, Bokuto rushed to the balcony, leaning over to hear better.

He didn’t hear much – but just enough. He heard Kuroo’s name, for one. He also heard Kenma say that he loved him. So of course, it was completely justified that he let out a loud squawk of surprise and excitement, and also probably did not manage to hide in time when Kenma leaned his head out to see.

Actually, he wouldn’t have hid at all, if Keiji hadn’t pulled him back in time.

Still, Kenma didn’t say anything – or anything audible, at least – and the only sound from downstairs after that was that of Kenma locking the balcony door.

“Did you hear that?!” He half-screamed, half-whispered at Keiji, who gave him a stern look.

“I told you to leave them be, didn’t I?” He said. “They can sort out their issues themselves.”

“Yes, but Kuroo never told him he was going over? Or that they had any issues to sort out in the first place?!”

“They’ll tell us when they want to. It’s late, and I’m going to bed. Are you coming?”

Sighing, Bokuto shot one last curious look at the balcony downstairs before following his boyfriend to the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

 

If  a month ago, anyone had told Kenma his house would be invaded at 1 in the morning, he would probably have given them a puzzled look and continued on with life without taking anything seriously. But this was now, and not a month ago, and he had come to learn that the people living around him in this dorm building were ridiculous and unpredictable, and so, was not surprised at all, albeit sufficiently startled, when the door was slammed open and one, Bokuto Koutarou strutted in as if he owned the place.

It seemed to occur to him that he did not, in fact, own the place, because he stopped at the entrance to the living room and looked back at the door in awe. Like no one had ever seen an unlocked door before.

_Probably haven’t, at this university,_ Kenma thought. He was sitting on the sofa with his laptop, his feet on the coffee table, watching that ridiculously cheesy drama his mother had been watching since forever, that he’d somehow gotten addicted to. It was a good drama, in his opinion. He looked at Bokuto, still at the entrance, who turned away from the door right then, to acknowledge him.

“Hi!” Bokuto said, voice way too loud and booming for Kenma’s taste. Also it was 1 am – not that it really mattered to Bokuto Koutarou. Or anyone, for that matter. He’d seen Iwaizumi-san come over around eleven, and that meant nobody was sleeping next door. “Your door was open!”

“I know,” Kenma said. “I left it open.”

“Did you know I was coming?!”

“Um. No. It’s always open.”

The smile on Bokuto’s face grew wider. “Ha! Now I can tell Akaashi I’m not the only one who leaves his door open. It’s such a pain having to keep opening it when people come over, right?”

“…yes…”

“So,” Bokuto looked around the room. “Where’s Kuroo?”

Kenma blinked. What did Bokuto want with Kuroo? He hadn’t even known Bokuto knew about Kuroo’s existence at all. He pointed at the ball of fur, curled up near Bokuto’s feet. “There he is.”

The following scream was deafening. Before Kenma knew what was happening, Bokuto had climbed onto the couch, pressing himself against the wall, letting out periodic screams at the sight of ‘”the horrifying demonic thing that’s actually pretty cute why _is it looking at me like that?!”_. The cushions bounced as Bokuto tried climbing higher and Kenma scowled, closing his laptop and standing up so he could be on solid terrain.

Kuroo was watching the entire scene with as much amusement as Kenma felt. Which was none. It was too late for this.

“Can you stop screaming, please,” he said, closing his laptop, and Bokuto responded with another scream – this one louder than the one before it, and Kenma resisted the urge to hit him over the head with a bat.

“It’s _looking_ at me!”

“Of course he is, you’re screaming.”

“But – but it’s – it’s? Looking at me!”

Kenma sighed, and ignored the new series of screams that came with Kuroo standing up and walking closer to the sofa. Kenma bent down to pet him on the head, but Kuroo was looking at Bokuto and mewing – the familiar mew Kenma had learnt was one of approval. Which meant Kuroo liked Bokuto.

“He likes you,” Kenma said, looking at his senior, who was clawing at the walls, trying to climb higher. “And he’s harmless. Also you’re going to ruin the paint.”

“What do you mean he _likes_ me? Can you make it go away! I just asked you where Kuroo was! Why did you have to do this?!”

“Bokuto-san.” Kenma bent down to pick Kuroo up. “This is my cat, Kuroo.”

Bokuto stilled, blinking down at him, frowning and loosening up enough for him to set one foot off the back of the sofa and onto the cushions – and then Kuroo mewed again and there was another round of screaming, and more clawing at the walls. Kenma was getting sick of this. Why wasn’t anyone in his life anywhere near normal?

“But you were talking to Kuroo, right? I heard you from the balcony!”

Ah, so Kenma was right. He knew he’d heard someone from above, and he was pretty sure he’d seen that hair – it’d be hard to _not_ see that hair anywhere. But he wasn’t entirely sure, because then it had been silent, and Bokuto Koutarou was, as far as he knew, not capable of silence. In any form. Clearly, that was a misconception, because he’d obviously been silent long enough for him to question whether or not there had been anyone upstairs listening in or not.

“I was talking to Kuroo,” Kenma replied, nodding at the cat in his arms, who was trying to get away. He didn’t want more screaming though, so he held on. “Stop struggling, traitor,” he told Kuroo.

“Don’t call your cat a traitor! He’s cute!” Bokuto exclaimed, from his perch upon the sofa, and then screamed again when Kuroo looked at him. “And get him away from me!”

Kenma sighed and shook his head, turning to make his way to the bedroom. “It’s late, good night, close the door when you leave.”

He closed the door to his room, lying in bed and listening for the click of the front door before he turned to Kuroo, curled up on the covers next to him.

“You’re such a problem,” he muttered, and was, unsurprisingly, ignored in response.

 

* * *

 

 

He was on his way to his morning class – philosophy, logic and ethics. Fun class, when he didn’t have to speak, but he did have to speak, so it wasn’t fun. At least his teacher didn’t care when he pulled out his phone and started playing games, as long as he kept the volume down. _That_ was fun. Ish.

He had another fifteen minutes before he was expected to actually be in class though, and Kenma was still tired from last night. He’d stayed up late again, lying in the dark and contemplating his life decisions, knowing he’d regret everything the next morning, which he totally did, and currently felt like dying. There was a hollow, stale feeling in his stomach and mouth and he just need more sleep. Maybe he should have skipped this class. His teacher was too lazy to mark attendance, anyway.

“Oh! Pudding-chan!” A loud familiar voice boomed through the corridor and Kenma scowled at the floor. Really, this was not the best time. He turned his head a bit to see Bokuto waving wildly at him. Next to him, Akaashi Keiji was holding his head, looking exasperated. No one could blame him, honestly. Kenma was exasperated too, and he’d only spent a few minutes in Bokuto’s company. How did people do more, he didn’t know.

He wasn’t a _bad_ person, Kenma knew that. He was just. Loud. And exhausting.

It was then that he noticed another head of black hair next to Bokuto. A messier, taller one that belonged to a certain someone he’d been seeing too much of recently. Tetsurou held up a hand in acknowledgement, looking particularly shy and Kenma felt his heartbeat speed up. Why were things so _awkward_? He was being too self conscious about this. There was no need for Tetsurou to look _shy_. It was just him. He was Kozume Kenma. Nobody got shy around him. What an absurd thought. He nodded in response, and truthfully, although he’d gotten used to the many antics of Bokuto Koutarou, he wasn’t sure he could ever have been prepared for him standing in the hallway and hooting as loudly as his already loud voice would allow him.

Tetsurou punched his shoulder, looking embarrassed. He shot Kenma an apologetic look, and with Akaashi’s help, dragged Bokuto away, leaving Kenma confused and puzzled. Just like everyone else in the corridor. He was sure he was receiving looks now. Lowering his head, Kenma hurried off.

Akaashi Keiji approached him at the door to his classroom. There were still five minutes left before class started, so Kenma didn’t really have an excuse to avoid him.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Akaashi said. “He doesn’t usually think before speaking.”

“That was _speaking_?”

Akaashi laughed. “Or anything he does, really. I’m also sorry about yesterday. It was very inconsiderate of him to eavesdrop on your conversation with Kuroo-san.”

Kenma froze. “My what?”

“Whatever your relationship is with Kuroo-san,” Akaashi continued, “It has nothing to do with either of us, so I’ll make sure he doesn’t intrude upon it again.”

Kenma frowned. His ‘relationship’ with Tetsurou? Did Akaashi really think he’d been talking with Tetsurou on his balcony yesterday? Wait, how would Akaashi know he’d been talking to anyone at all? If Bokuto had been the one to tell him – then why did he think it was Tetsurou? He’d made sure Bokuto knew he’d been talking to Kuroo. His cat.

Had Bokuto been going around _lying_ to people? Did that mean he’d gone and _lied_ to _Tetsurou_ as well? _Oh my god_ , Kenma bit his lip. He was going to die. Why were all these excitable people set out to ruin his life? Why was Kuroo called  _Kuroo_? Why couldn't he have been born a Takumi or a Jun? 

The door to the classroom opened and Kenma’s teacher waved him in. Akaashi nodded and left, and Kenma took the seat at the very back of the room. He needed to clear his thoughts. This was too much. College sucked. He needed like, fifty years off. Maybe he could become a Youtuber. Playthroughs were always an option weren’t they?

 

* * *

 

As if the morning’s events, and the boring as fuck class weren’t enough, the fates decided Kenma was to suffer a bit more today. Which was why he realized, right when he reached the vending machine after class, that he was not the only one who needed morning coffee. Tetsurou grinned at him as he approached.

“Hey,” he said, and Kenma swallowed hard. His mouth felt dry. What the fuck was this. _This is ridiculous._

“Hi.”

“Good day, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so.”

“Do you like your morning classes, or are they as boring as mine?” Tetsurou bent to get his can of coffee from the slot. “Economics is boring as fuck.”

“Does anyone ever like _morning_ classes?” Kenma asked, and felt a stab of annoyance at how easily Tetsurou laughed at his comment. At Tetsurou for being so relaxed, and at himself for being so self conscious. It wasn’t _intended_ to be funny. _Stop being so chill when I’m not chill._

“Akaashi said Bokuto caused you a bit of trouble last night,” Tetsurou told him, his voice light, and Kenma wondered why _he_ couldn’t be the tense one. _This is all your fault! Be a bit more conscious!_ “Sorry about that.”

“How does Akaashi know, anyway?” He muttered under his breath, putting his coins into the slot and listening for the thud as they landed, and Tetsurou laughed.

“Akaashi spends most nights at Bokuto’s place. They’re a cheesy, sappy couple.”

Kenma’s finger paused over the buttons of the machine. “They’re a couple?”

“Yeah! Didn’t you know? They’ve been together for ages.”

Kenma recalled the sounds he often heard from upstairs – suspiciously like the ones he often heard from next door. He’d thought Bokuto just liked to rearrange his room’s furniture a lot. Suddenly everything made a lot of sense.

“Ah,” he snapped his fingers. “That explains all the noises.”

Tetsurou blinked, before his face slowly reddened and his jaw dropped. Kenma watched in fascination. It – he hated himself for even thinking it, but – it was a pretty good look on him. _He’s kinda cute_. Okay, stop right there.

“T-the what?!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends here is a surprise update bc i felt bad abt not having updated in so long. hopefully i will not take as long in writing future chapters. 
> 
> (and yet, i cannot make promises. college sucks, i am always tired and my muse is so fickle...pls help me..i dont want to suffer like this...i dont want to make u guys wait so much..)
> 
> BUT ANYWAY HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER!!! PLS SEND ME GOOD VIBES I WANT TO KEEP BEING PRODUCTIVE!!!
> 
> and, as always, thank you for the incredible response, and all your love i cry!! i am not worthy, i love you all so much<333

“So I’ve heard some pretty scandalous things about you,” Kuroo said, nonchalantly over the buzz of conversation in the cafeteria. He’d been having trouble looking his best friend in the eye, after having learnt just what he and his boyfriend had been doing during all those nights Akaashi spent at his place.

In all honesty, he told himself, he should have realized sooner, but he didn’t think they’d be doing it _already_. Sure they had been dating for a while, but…

They were only twenty one! And Akaashi was twenty! How could they go that far?! So soon! So young! So reckless! And how could Bokuto not _tell_ him?!

 _Well, it’s college. Everyone does it._ That was true. Still, after having grown up with Bokuto, and spending his entire life with him, it was hard to imagine him having sex – not that Kuroo really wanted to imagine that anyway. Gross.

“What scandalous things?”

“Apparently you and Akaashi have gone _all the way.”_ He shrugged, taking a bite of his pizza and looking Bokuto in the eye, who didn’t look particularly phased. He only slurped up his spaghetti and raised a eyebrow at him.

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘ _so’_?” Kuroo exclaimed. “You never told me!”

“Bro, you’ve walked in on us like fifty times, how could you not know?”

“I didn’t think you’d have gone _that_ far! I thought it was like, _mild_ stuff.”

Bokuto shook his head, holding his hand against his chest and adopting a motherly expression. “Friend, you need to come and live with everyone else in the gutter, you’re too innocent.”

Kuroo scowled. He wasn’t _innocent_.

Okay, maybe he was. A bit. How was that a bad thing?! How was he to know, anyway, if he’d never been told outright? And besides, this was _Bokuto_ – he told Kuroo everything, regardless of whether or not he wanted to know. He should have told Kuroo about this, shouldn’t he?! Such betrayal.

“The only reason I know right _now_ is because _Kenma_ told me he can hear you two when you’re doing it.”

Bokuto looked up from his food, beaming. “So Pudding-chan is into that, huh? I’ll leave the balcony door open next time so he can hear better.”

“Don’t taint Kenma, please, he’s small and innocent.”

“’Innocent’,” Bokuto snorted. “He’s so small and quiet, he’s anything but innocent. You’ve landed yourself a feisty ball of sin.”

Kuroo blinked. “Excuse me, what?”

“Don’t you know!” Bokuto waved his arms around in frustration and Kuroo felt the stares of everyone around them. In any other situation he’d have flailed as well, but right now he was in a state of confusion and shock and something mixed with embarrassment. The aftereffects of finding out your best friend was no longer a virgin, while you had just broken up with your girlfriend. Fun. “All the shy, quiet ones are wild in bed.” Bokuto waggled his eyebrows. “Trust me, look at Keiji!”

“Yeah, okay, I totally needed to know what Akaashi’s like in bed, thanks a lot, man.”

“Always happy to help.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes and shoved the remainder of his pizza in his mouth, looking around the cafeteria. He spotted Kiyoko sitting with her blonde friend in the corner, Lev being Lev at a small table with Yaku, who was looking exasperated – Kuroo felt somewhat bad for him, but not really – and Shrimpy with his boyfriend or whatever he was. No, they probably weren’t dating yet. They just blushed a lot around each other.

Kuroo frowned. Shrimpy was Kenma’s best friend, wasn’t he? He remembered Kenma telling him that. He remembered a lot of things Kenma told him, actually, not that Kenma told him much.

He thought back to the conversation they’d had at the vending machine.

“I hear sounds from next door, whenever Iwaizumi-san comes over, and I know they’re a _thing_ ,” Kenma had said, when Kuroo demanded an explanation about what it meant that he could hear _noises_. He kind of wished he hadn’t, now. “And I also hear stuff from upstairs, but I didn’t know they were dating, so I never really pieced it together. But it makes sense now.”

“You mean they’re…they’re… _doing it?!_

“Uh. Yeah?” Kenma gave him a look. “Shouldn’t you know? You’re their friend.”

“I didn’t think they’d gone _all the way_.” There were vivid _images_ filling his head now. From all the times he’d walked in on them, and his mind decided to add to it, with what he thought would have happened when he wasn’t there. Gross. “Holy shit, how impure.”

“Why are you being so biblical about this?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“They’re having sex, so what? They’re in college.”

“So what?!”

Kenma raised an eyebrow, giving him a scrutinizing look. “Are you a _virgin?”_ he asked, incredulously, his voice hushed and Kuroo felt his hands start to sweat.

“So what if I I am? I’m only twenty one, I have all the time in the world!”

Kenma blinked and looked at his feet. “No, I just. I didn’t think you were the type to. Like. _Wait_.”

What was _that_ supposed to mean?! Wouldn’t _anyone_ want to wait to find the right person before they took a step so big? Did he _look_ like someone who slept around?

Kenma was looking at him now, and Kuroo racked his brains for something to reply with. How the hell was he supposed to reply to that?!

“So are _you_ a virgin?” He blurted out, immediately regretting it, and felt his face burn when Kenma looked surprised. “I mean you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but I thought since I told you about me, I could ask about you – “

Great, now he was rambling. _Very smooth._

Kenma opened and closed his mouth before finally replying, “Yes, but I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“It’s – not, really, I just thought I could. Ask. Since you asked me. Um.”

Kenma wasn’t meeting his eyes. Why wasn’t he meeting his eyes. Was that a _blush_ on his face? _No, don’t be ridiculous. Why would he be blushing?_

 _He’s cute, though._ Kuroo found himself thinking. _Everyone is right._

Right, that was a bad train of thought.

“I’ll just, um, go now,” he laughed, popping the can in his hands to get rid of the awkward silence. “See you.”

Kuroo fled. It wasn’t _fleeing_ , it was just walking away casually but distinguishably faster than normal, but technically it was fleeing. It probably made him look like a coward but really, what else was he supposed to do? He was thinking things he – probably wasn’t allowed to think, and saying things he wasn’t allowed to say.

 _That had been hesitation_ , _hadn’t it?_ He thought now, ignoring Bokuto’s demands that they go get ‘that thing from the place next to the place with those thingies out front’. Kenma had _hesitated_ before replying.

Did that mean that Kenma had gone that far with someone too? He _did_ have a secret admirer, after all. He could be dating that someone now, Kuroo wouldn’t even know. They weren’t exactly _close,_ were they?

His eyes landed on Hinata again. Maybe he could ask him. They were best friends, Hinata would know.

Shaking his head, Kuroo turned his attention back to the babbling Bokuto. It was absolutely none of his business what Kenma did and with whom.

Why couldn’t he get it out of his head?!

* * *

Kenma wanted to die. He’d skipped his next class to huddle up under his blankets at home and think about all the mistakes he’d made in his life – which was a pretty long list, honestly.

Note to self: when you meet the guy that you’re rumored to be dating even though you aren’t, you do not discuss virginity.

 _Well,_ he thought burying his face in the pillow. _At least Tetsurou is cute. It could have been Yamamoto._

Not that there was anything _wrong_ with Yamamoto. He just wasn’t Kenma’s type. No, that implied that Tetsurou _was_ Kenma’s type, and Kenma hadn’t thought much about himself to come to a conclusion about what his type was. His type was 2D idols

Still, if he was being realistic, he supposed his type was someone tall, with a good sense of humor, easy to talk to – someone who knew how to have fun, and would accept him for who he was, and understand boundaries –

 _That sounds a lot like a certain someone_ , his mind said and Kenma groaned into the pillow. He looked at Kuroo, sprawled over the floor in a corner of the room, looking very innocent – as if this entire thing wasn’t his fault to begin with. Stupid cat.

“Kuroo,” Kenma called out. “Do you think I should be the one being self-aware if he’s the one who likes me?”

Kuroo didn’t bother looking at him, but Kenma continued anyway. “Does he even like me or is it my imagination? Why was he interested in knowing about my sex life anyway? Does he really think _I_ would have a sex life? Why am I thinking about this?”

Kuroo rolled over.

“This is ridiculous, Kuroo, you’re the cause of this mess.” He needed to clear his head. Kicking off the bed, Kenma picked up his phone and left the apartment, marveling at the fact that a single person was able to make Kenma _want_ to leave the sanctuary of his dorm.

* * *

 

 “Oh, hi!” Shouyou said, opening the door. “Did something happen?”

“Why would you assume something happened?”

“Well, you don’t normally come to my dorm,” Shouyou replied, opening the door wider to let him in.

Kenma wrinkled his nose at the sight of the apartment. There were shoes and clothes and balls everywhere. The sink was piled high with dirty dishes, and there was a box of takeout sitting on the coffee table that was probably a week old. Kenma wasn’t the neatest of people, but this was too much.

 “Well,” he said, waving his arm at the mess. “This is why.”

“Leave me alone! I was about to clean up!”

“That’s what you said the last time I came to your dorm. Which was last year.”

“Whatever! I’m too busy to clean up I’ll…do it someday.” Shouyou stuck his tongue out and picked up the box of takeout, which was thankfully empty and dumped it in the trash. Kenma sat down on the sofa, pulling his legs up. “So why are you here?”

“I wanted fresh air.”

“So you came here.”

“Yeah.”

“Kenma.”

“Okay, fine,” Kenma scowled. “I might have a problem.”

“Which is?”

“I’m conflicted.”

“About what?”

“…feelings.”

“Oh.” There was silence, and Kenma fiddled his toes while Shouyou picked up some of the clothes thrown about the room. “Do they have anything to do with – ”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

“Okay,” Shouyou shrugged, but Kenma could almost see the grin he was biting back. Sure, his problems would be very amusing now, wouldn’t they? Maybe he should laugh at Shouyou for being a lovestruck idiot. Which wouldn’t really work, because Shouyou knew he was one too.

“How are things with Kageyama?” He asked, more so because he genuinely wanted to know than to make fun of anyone and Shouyou sighed dramatically.

“He’s such an idiot, I want to just kiss his stupid face.”

“I know.”

“Why can’t he just _like me back?”_

“You’re an idiot if you really think he doesn’t like you back,” Kenma muttered, and Shouyou sighed again, throwing himself in the empty space on the couch.

“I just want to hear him say it, okay?!” he murmured. “Everyone says it’s not just me but he’s so dumb and unemotive, I can’t even _tell_.”

“Then you should ask him.”

“Don’t be stupid, I’m not doing that.” Shouyou moaned, mumbling complaints under his breath as Kenma rolled his eyes. One day he was going to tell Kageyama to kiss Shouyou and then all his problems would be solved.

Or most of them, anyway.

“We have a match today,” Shouyou said. “A practice match, but it’s a proper one. The freshman and sophomores against the juniors and seniors.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It is fun! Kageyama and I will be on one team,” Shouyou sat up, eyes wide and excited. “You should come and watch.” Kenma opened his mouth to protest but Shouyou cut him off. “Please, I want to win this. Come and give me moral support.”

Kenma sighed, scowling at the way Shouyou gave him an innocent smile, as if he didn’t know he was totally emotionally blackmailing Kenma into coming. Friendship at its finest.

“Fine, fine, I’ll come,” he said, rolling his eyes. Well, it might be for the best. Maybe the excitement of the match would help clear his thoughts too.

It didn’t occur to him that Kuroo Tetsurou was also on the team.

* * *

 

Which is why, of course, when he arrived at the gymnasium, and laid eyes upon the one person he’d been trying not to think about, Kenma’s initial reaction was to panic. He froze, eyes going wide. Shouyou turned to see why he wasn’t walking, followed his gaze to see what he was looking at and snorted.

Kenma shot him an accusatory look. How could Shouyou betray him like that?

Okay, maybe he should have realized himself, considering he knew that they were on the team together. And Shouyou had specifically mentioned it was a match against the juniors and seniors, which, obviously, would include Tetsurou.

Scowling, he told Shouyou to go and play the stupid game and took a seat on one of the empty benches in the corner, keeping a fair distance from the only other occupant, which was a short blonde girl aggressively scribbling in a notepad. He eyed her warily – who took notes on _volleyball_? – before turning his eyes back to the two teams. He found Shouyou standing with Kageyama at the side, looking excited. But then Shouyou was always excited when he saw Kageyama, so that was nothing new.

There was still some time before the match actually started, so he pulled out his phone and busied himself with a dumb game he’d found on the app store.

Until the gymnasium was suddenly full of excited, familiar squawking and Kenma looked up in annoyance, already knowing what he would see.

Which was, of course, Bokuto Koutarou flailing his arms, hitting Oikawa Tooru in the head with them, and then proceeding to grab Tetsurou’s shoulders and turn him around so he could see Kenma. Kenma froze, as Tetsurou’s eyes widened and he held up a hand in acknowledgement, before turning around and elbowing Bokuto in the side.

He was in uniform, and Kenma hated himself for even thinking it but – he looked pretty good. The uniform looked good on him. The shorts reached mid-thigh, and he had to fight himself so his eyes wouldn’t wander where they ended.

 _This is ridiculous_ , he told himself. _It’s okay to think someone hot is hot._

Which Tetsurou sure as fuck was. He wasn’t going to _deny_ that. But that didn’t mean he needed to be particularly happy about the realization. Okay, he’d always known Tetsurou was attractive, but he’d never. _Looked_ at him like that. What the fuck was he doing?

_Stupid hormones._

The entire gymnasium was looking in their direction now. He could almost hear Shouyou snickering, and a loud comment of ‘why is everyone looking at Kenma and Kuroo-san?’ from Lev made everyone turn their heads away – out of politeness, Kenma supposed, but it wasn’t very polite to turn and stare in the first place.

He was eternally grateful when the whistle blew, signaling that the game could start.

He watched the ball being tossed back and forth, keeping his eyes on Shouyou. He kept his fingers crossed for him – he wanted Shouyou to win, but he couldn’t really focus much on that, because his traitorous eyes kept wandering to the _other_ side of the net. Where a certain someone was giving the ball his undivided attention – throwing himself across the floor to keep the ball in the air, making his shorts ride up and giving Kenma a very nice view –

 _Right,_ this was getting _way_ out of hand now.

Cursing, Kenma dragged his eyes back to Shouyou, who had just yelled at Kageyama for a toss, and he admired the coordination – the perfect timing with which Kageyama tossed to Shouyou. He’d tossed for Shouyou many times, but he’d never been able to bring out his full potential – not the way Kageyama did. They were really good for each other. He felt a smile pull at his lips. Maybe one day, they would stop being idiots and admit they were in love with each other.

Sighing, he leaned back, and allowed himself one glimpse to the right side of the net. Tetsurou had just jumped and missed the ball by a millimeter, and Kenma wondered if it was because he was, in any way, self conscious about Kenma watching him.

 _Absurd_ , he told himself. _Why would he be?_

Wasn’t that what happened when you liked someone, though? Shouyou had often told him that he messed up a serve or a spike because he’d been hyperaware of Kageyama’s eyes on him.

Shouyou _liked_ Kageyama, though, so that was understandable. There was no reason for Kenma to believe Tetsurou liked him. There was no reason for Tetsurou to like him at all, so why had he reached the conclusion in the first place?

 _Maybe you_ want _him to like you_.

No. Preposterous. That was impossible.

Having had too much of all the conflicting thoughts, Kenma turned on his phone and occupied himself with the game again. Shouyou would understand.

* * *

 

“I’ll win next time,” Shouyou told at him after the match was over. They’d lost by a small margin, but it was still a loss, and Shouyou didn’t take losses well. Neither did Kageyama, who was standing at the side and drinking water, and Kenma noticed the way his best friend kept turning to look.

“It’s okay, you played really well,” Kenma said. “You and Kageyama were really in sync.”

Shouyou nodded, eyes darting back to where his crush stood, sweaty and tired, with water dripping down his chin. Kenma sighed. “We tend to play really well together somehow.”

“I know you’re thirsty for him, but how about you let him drink water in peace?”

Shouyou’s cheeks flamed. “Shut up! Like you didn’t spend the entire time looking at Kuroo-san!”

“Excuse me?” It was Kenma’s turn to feel his face grow warm.

“I don’t blame you, I mean,” Shouyou turned to gesture at the group of freshman girls who had entered sometime after the game had started, and had stood and screamed the whole time. “They’re all here for the _seniors_ , and the includes Kuroo-san. They’re hot.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be madly in love with Kageyama?”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean I can’t admit they’re hot. And it’s not _madly in love_ , it’s just a crush.”

“’Just’ a crush.”

“Shut up!” Shouyou laughed, elbowing him in the side, before looking around and pointing at a girl standing near the net. She had short black hair, and wore glasses, and was talking to the blonde girl who’d been taking notes earlier. “Look, that’s Kuroo-san’s ex-girlfriend.”

“Her?”

“Yeah, she’s Kiyoko-san. She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.” And she was. She had a slender body, though filled in the right places, and her smile was dainty, and her features soft. Everything Kenma was not, and suddenly, he felt extremely ill at ease about himself. He was short and awkward, and didn’t hold himself right, and he was skinny and gawky. Nothing attractive about him at all.

He’d always been disinterested in what he looked like to other people, although he’d always cared about what they thought of him. It was annoying to suddenly be so uneasy about his body. How was it that the simple fact that Kuroo Tetsurou had dated this particular girl was able to make him feel so… _undesirable?_

This was _stupid_.

“So we have a party thing after this,” Shouyou was saying. “You should come with.”

Kenma blinked, pulling his eyes back. “No, thanks. I’d rather go home.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d say that. I’m dragging Kageyama with me anyway,” he looked proud of himself and Kenma supposed he had good reason to be. “I’m going to _tell_ him today.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you _really_?”

“ _Yes_ , I am.”

“Okay,” Kenma smiled. “Good luck, then.”

Shouyou saluted, smiling back and punching his arm, light and playful, before skipping back off to where his team was. Kenma sighed and made to leave.

He’d had enough interaction for one day. He’d had enough of these _thoughts_ for one day. When he got back, he was going to play Enstars until he was about to die, and then sleep for what was hopefully forever. 

* * *

The walk back was kind of cold, Kenma thought. It was only nine, so the sun had been down for quite some time, but it was still pretty cold considering the time of the year. He had to feed Kuroo too, he remembered. He’d been out for a while.

He stopped at the small garden near his dorm to pet the cat he’d made friends with a few months ago. Kuroo would hate him for having the smell of another cat on him, but Kuroo would have to deal. Kuroo was a traitor anyway. The cat purred, burying her face into the palm of his hand as he stroked the fur on her back.

“She really likes you, doesn’t she?” said a voice behind him and Kenma almost jumped out of his skin. He swiveled around. Why. Why him?

Why was he meant to suffer so much today?

Tetsurou bent down to join Kenma in petting the cat, his shoulders pressed against Kenma’s and the cat immediately turned to him, mewing and rubbing herself against his pants. Would it be too rude to move so they weren’t touching? There was no need to touch, anyway, there was plenty of space. Why was he so _close_?

“My mom never let me keep cats, cause my dad’s allergic,” Tetsurou said, smiling fondly at the cat. Kenma blinked. “I get it, I mean, it’s a valid reason, but I love cats. So I always stop to pet stray ones if they let me.”

Kenma nodded, unsure of what to say.

“You’re lucky you have Kuroo.”

He nodded again. He could smell the sweat from the match off him – mixed with something fruity, and another smell that Kenma felt was probably just his natural smell, and it was. _Nice._ He was going to shoot himself.

Kenma stood up, his shoulder tingling from where it had been in contact with Tetsurou’s a few seconds ago, feeling his face burn, and something caught in his throat. He thanked the gods it was dark.

“Aren’t you going to the party?” He asked.

“Nah, I don’t want to get drunk on a school night.”

“How very responsible of you.”

“I’m very responsible,” said the older boy, giving him a cheeky grin, and Kenma felt his heart flutter. “So hey, I miss Kuroo – your cat, I mean – do you think I could come over? It’s too early to crash, but too late for really anything else.”

Kenma stared at him. Did he ask if he could _come over_? Again? If anyone ever found out, he would never hear the end of this. And people would find out. Because everyone always found out.

If breakfast was a date, then bonding with cats was a one night stand. This was a bad idea.

And yet, he found himself nodding. “Sure.”

“Awesome,” Tetsurou said, standing up, and brushing his trousers. “I get to see my feline twin again.”

The world should just ban all Kuroos, they were trouble-makers.

Kenma sighed and led the way back, trying his hardest to ignore the way Tetsurou whistled, and the fact that they were walking too close on the too-wide pavement. 

* * *

 

Kuroo was, to sum it up, excited. He bounded over to Tetsurou, mewing excitedly and Kenma shot him a dirty look when Tetsurou sat down to scratch behind his ears. A traitor, through and through. First Tetsurou, then Bokuto, and then Tetsurou again. He was never like this with Shouyou. Or him, in the beginning.

He went to the kitchen to get out Kuroo’s bowl, and scowled when he avoided Kenma’s outstretched hand to eat instead. Of course, he had time to be petted by Tetsurou, but not Kenma, who had fed and raised him.

“Why don’t you just become _his_ cat,” he muttered under his breath, but felt a surge of affection when Kuroo paused from eating to rub his head against Kenma’s hands.

Kenma sighed, taking some time to prepare two cups of coffee before leaving the kitchen. Tetsurou was sitting on the living room sofa, looking through the textbooks Kenma had left on the coffee table. He looked up and smiled when Kenma entered, taking the coffee with a thank you.

“Your place is bigger than mine,” he commented. Kenma awkwardly took a seat next to him.

“I thought all the apartments were the same size.”

“The ones in the new building are smaller,” he said, leaning back and taking a sip. “Man, this is good.”

“Um. Thanks.” Taking a sip of his own coffee, Kenma pulled his legs up, resting his chin on his knees as he snuck looks at Tetsurou from the corner of his eye. He was leaning back, an arm thrown over the back of the sofa, holding the cup in the other hand. He looked like someone out of a magazine, in those plain looking clothes and the stupid bedhead hairstyle. He was saying something about his father forcing him into business school, and Kenma was, oddly enough, paying attention.

* * *

 By midnight, Kenma knew many things about Kuroo Tetsurou. By midnight, Kuroo Tetsurou knew almost as many things about Kozume Kenma.

He wasn’t sure why he had opened up – telling an almost _stranger_ about himself, about his boring life and thinking he’d be _interested_. He wasn’t sure whether Tetsurou had listened out of politeness or genuine interest, but he’d – he’d _seemed_ interested. He’d asked questions. He’d been the one to _ask_ in the first place.

Talking to Tetsurou had been _easy_ , and Kenma wasn’t used to that feeling. He closed the door behind Tetsurou at around 12:30, heart thudding wildly against his chest, and the strange, unfamiliar sense of _already?_ clouding his senses. He was tired. He should sleep, shouldn’t he?

All he could see was Tetsurou’s face in his head, as he listened attentively, unblinking, or as he laughed at something Kenma said, that wasn’t meant to be funny – or the fond expression as he played with Kuroo.

Kenma didn’t bother undressing and threw himself across the bed, groaning.

“Kuroo,” he moaned, when he felt the mattress dip as Kuroo climbed the bed. “Help me.”

Kuroo licked his paws.

“I think I _like_ someone.”

Kuroo stepped closer, pressing a paw against Kenma’s hand, as if to console him. It didn’t help much.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im. sorry about the wait i know i suck im sorry i really am.
> 
> in other news this fic is now one year, one month and thirteen days old and im getting emotional thank you so much for putting up with me and my extra long update periods i do try im just. so lazy. 
> 
> hope you like this chapter tho!!! i love you all!!
> 
> ah, and thanks to my best friend kirsi for beta-ing!<3

Kenma rose to a glorious morning. The sun was shining and peering in through the curtains; he could hear birds singing, and he felt oddly refreshed in a way he hadn’t for quite a while. And then the memory of last night’s soul crushing realization hit him and Kenma buried his face in the pillow, deciding he was completely done with life and didn’t want to get out of bed.

Not that it wasn’t the case before, but it had just gotten three hundred times worse. 

Still, despite the fact that he was one hundred percent screwed, there was a funny, jittery feeling in his stomach that – well, if he was completely honest with himself, which he really didn’t _want_ to be, it felt _nice_. A feeling of _hey, I like someone, everything is rainbows and sunshine,_ except liking people was a problem – as he had learnt from Shouyou – so he wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that he _enjoyed_ feeling like this.

_It’s just that it’s new, that’s all,_ Kenma told himself, but as a precautionary measure, proceeded to bury his head in the pillow and scream. Next to him, Kuroo stirred and Kenma felt absolutely no guilt at having disturbed his sleep.

He pushed himself off the bed, scowling at the lump of fur called the cat that was the reason he was having so many dilemmas lately, and stared at the wall. It was early enough for him to be able to take his time getting ready for class, and Shouyou wouldn’t have to come and yell at him or kick him off the bed.

Oh right. Shouyou. Kenma sighed as he made his way to the bathroom to wash up. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Shouyou just yet. He’d only make a bigger deal out of it than it was – although okay, maybe it _was_ a big deal considering he’d never liked anyone in his entire life – and Kenma would become more and more conscious of the fact until one day he ended up doing something stupid.

Actually, he’d been doing a lot of stupid things lately. Like inviting Tetsurou over to his house and making him coffee and telling him things he didn’t usually open up about to people. He frowned at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Tetsurou probably hadn’t needed to know about his relationship with his mother, or the fact that he adopted a stray cat at the age of ten and cried when he found out it had an owner.

Actually, he hadn’t needed to talk to Tetsurou at all. Kenma was Kenma, the loner sophomore who knew nobody, while Tetsurou was the popular, hot guy on the volleyball team who had girls (and boys – including Kenma, apparently) drooling over him everywhere he went. It made no sense.

He didn’t really get much time to mull it over though. He stepped out of the bathroom to see Kuroo glaring daggers at his phone that was making the entire bed vibrate. Shouyou was calling. Kenma stared at the screen for a few seconds, unsure of whether he wanted to have a conversation right now. He’d probably end up saying something he’d regret later and it’d haunt him for the rest of his life.

The call dropped, and Kenma sighed in relief before it started ringing again five seconds later. Maybe it was important. Cautiously, he slid his thumb across the screen.

“ _Kenma?!”_ Came the screech before Kenma had time to say anything or even bring it up to his ear – which was a good thing, because Shouyou was being loud. He was holding the phone at arms length and could hear him perfectly.

“Yes?”

“ _I made a terrible mistake!”_

“So did I.”

“ _I made out with Kageyama at the party last night!”_

Kenma blinked, taking a second to process that. _Well, finally_. “How…is that a _mistake_?”

“ _Because!”_ Shouyou yelled. “ _He doesn’t remember any of it! He was drunk!”_

Kenma snorted, earning a frustrated scream from the other end, that almost made him feel bad. But well, this was progress, in a way. Or maybe it would just give Shouyou more reason to come and pine endlessly and Kenma would be even more frustrated at how incredibly dumb his best friend was.

“Distract me, Kenma, I hate myself.”

“I think I have a crush on Kuroo Tetsurou,” Kenma replied, flatly. He felt bad. Just a little bit. And well, he had to tell Shouyou at some point, and he needed a distraction right now.

“I already knew tha – _wait holy shit?!”_

“Shut up.”

“Kenma! You _admitted_ it!”

“Unwillingly.”

“But you did! You – oh my god.”

“Can we stop talking about this?” There was that jittery feeling in his stomach again. The butterflies he really didn’t want to have, and he was sure his face was flaming. He was also going to be late for class, even if he’d woken up early, but right now he didn’t particularly care. He felt _nice_ for the first time in – very long, actually, and Shouyou was distressed, so Kenma didn’t want to leave him alone. And he also didn’t want to go to class – class was boring.

“Yes, yes,” Shouyou sighed heavily. “Do you _have_ to go to class today?”

“Are you really telling me to skip?”

“I just! Need moral support right now, okay?! I kissed my fucking crush and he doesn’t even _remember_ , what an _asshole_ – ”

“I don’t mind skipping.”

“Of course you don’t. Let’s go out for breakfast. In honor of our sad love lives.” Shouyou hummed. “I’ll meet you at the cafe, is that okay?”

“Yeah.”

Hanging up, Kenma pulled on a clean shirt and pants, taking his time in leaving some food out for Kuroo before he picked up his things and left the apartment. He was kind of excited to see Shouyou now. Honestly, he needed some moral support too. All he hoped now, was that they wouldn’t run into Tetsurou anywhere. Although given his luck, he wouldn’t at all be surprised if they did.

* * *

 

The good thing was that the café was pretty much empty when they stepped inside, probably because everyone was in class or sleeping, so it was easy to see that there were no Kuroos around. Kenma heaved a sigh of relief, realizing only then that he’d been holding his breath since god knows how long. _Calm down, its not a big deal, stop making it weirder for yourself._

Next to him, Shouyou was dragging his feet uncharacteristically as he walked, and Kenma was starting to feel really bad about the situation. His problems ranged from _I lost at my game I’ll have to replay the level_ to _I have a crush_ , while Shouyou’s ranged from _I lost my game I won’t make it to nationals_ to _I kissed my crush and he doesn’t remember._

Clearly, he was considerably more fortunate in terms of problems, even though that didn’t invalidate his.

Sighing, Kenma racked his brains for something to say when he spotted a certain someone sitting alone at a table for twelve, staring intently at his plate. A slow smile spread across his face.

“Shouyou,” he said, “Let’s go sit with Kageyama.”

Shouyou froze, slowly looking up from his feet to lay his eyes on the one and only Kageyama Tobio, who hadn’t yet noticed they were there.

“ _No_ ,” he whispered hoarsely, but Kenma had already taken his arm and started dragging him towards the table.

Kageyama looked up as they approached, and it was obvious that he had no recollection of last night’s events, or was just really good at acting because his expression didn’t change at all, even as they sat down – Kenma leaving the seat opposite Kageyama empty for Shouyou and taking the one next to it. He got a dirty look for it.

_Or maybe that’s just his permanent expression for everything,_ Kenma thought. He hadn’t really seen Kageyama do anything more than frown. There was that one time he’d smiled because of a good toss, but that had seemed more like an ‘I’m an evil witch come to eat the kids of this town’ kind of smile than a particularly happy one.

“Why are _you_ so moody today?” Shouyou demanded as he sat down.

“I have the worst hangover,” Kageyama said, scowling at his boiled egg. “I don’t remember anything from last night.”

“Is that _so_ ,” Shouyou snapped, sliding down in his own seat until he was almost lying down. He shot a look up at Kenma who bit his lip to keep from smiling.

“I know I made out with someone,” Kageyama went on, and from his peripheral vision, Kenma noticed Shouyou’s eyes widen. “But I don’t remember who.”

_Oh for god’s sake -_

“I wonder if they think I’m good at it? I don’t even remember what it was like.”

Shouyou sat up, clearing his throat, and folding his arms across his chest. “Kissing is like volleyball.”

Kenma resisted the urge to slap himself, while Kageyama only looked somewhat impressed but also skeptical.

“What do you mean it’s like _volleyball_?”

“It’s like, _gwa!_ and _wooo!_ and _bah!_ and it’s that same feeling you get when you spike a really good toss! Like butterflies!”

“Really _?_ How do you know?”

Shouyou’s face flamed and he scowled. “I’ve kissed people too, you know! Fuck you!”

Kenma shook his head, listening to the exchange. Of all things, he’d never expected kissing to be compared to a sport. _That’s what you get when you’re friends with athletes._

“So,” he began, voice low. “If kissing is like volleyball, does that mean you’re only good at it when you do it with each other?”

Shouyou screeched, giving him a heavy shove that almost threw him off the chair, face pink, and began babbling about how indecent Kenma was, that was obviously not the case, he was a good kisser in every situation and if anyone had to be bad at it, it would be Kageyama –

“Excuse your ass, I’m a good kisser too,” Kageyama interrupted, kicking Shouyou under the table, who screeched some more.

He was really getting tired of the noise. He loved Shouyou, he did; they were best friends and Shouyou meant more to Kenma than anything else, but this was getting out of hand, it was too early for all this blathering. Even if it _was_ getting his mind off his new Discoveries, it was also giving him a headache.

“Didn’t you make out with someone last night too, Shouyou?” he asked innocently, looking at his best friend, who had frozen. Kageyama raised an eyebrow.

“Did you?”

“I – wha? D-did I?” Shouyou laughed nervously, scratching the back of head while pinching Kenma’s arm under the table.

“You did,” Kenma said, ignoring the pain. It was fine, because he wasn’t the only one in pain. “Who did you say it was, again? I forgot.”

Shouyou stood up then, slamming his hands on the table, and Kenma was distinctly aware of everyone in the café looking at them. In any other situation, he would have wanted to get out of there as soon as possible or die, but right now he was having too much fun.

“Well,” Kageyama said. “At least you remember them.”

“That’s the _problem_.”

“Is it really?” Kenma asked, pulling Shouyou back down. “I don’t think it is.”

“Of course it’s a problem!” Shouyou yelled. “What’s the point in remembering if _he_ doesn’t remember, anyway?!”

Kenma blinked. Shouyou gasped, hands flying up to cover his mouth and they both slowly turned to look at Kageyama Tobio, sitting on the other side of the table, looking stunned. In all honesty, Kenma would have been surprised if Kageyama _hadn’t_ said what he said next, which is why he wasn’t at all surprised with the words that came out of his mouth. That didn’t stop him from marveling at the levels of stupidity that existed in the world.

“So wait,” the frown turned from one of annoyance to one of confusion. At least his frowns had variety, to make up for his lack of expression otherwise. “The person you made out with forgot as well?”

Shouyou blinked. Once, twice, thrice. He slumped back in his chair, and Kenma shook his head pityingly at the resigned look on his face. “Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what happened. My date forgot, just like you.”

“Well,” Kageyama said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Are you really.”

“Yes. Maybe your kiss was so bad that they had to forget you to prevent trauma.”

“Fuck off! I’m like 90 percent sure they enjoyed my kiss! Why are we talking about this anyway! How was _your_ kiss?!”

“I don’t even remember my kiss, dumbass.”

“Maybe they were so good that you were so in awe of their talent, you forgot.”

Kenma snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Shut up, Kenma! I’m good at kissing!”

Kageyama frowned. “But we’re not even talking about you, we’re talking about the person I kissed.” There was a momentary pause. “Wait.”

Kenma felt Shouyou tense up next to him. The sudden tension in the air was sharper than his mom’s kitchen knives. It was slightly uncomfortable, but he was too amused to care.

“Oh!” Shouyou cried, looking at his bare wrist as he stood up hastily. “Would you look at the time! I have to get to my class! Good bye, friends!”

Kenma watched as he ran off, before slowly standing up himself, shaking his head. Kageyama was staring blankly at the table, and Kenma could almost hear his brain whirring inside his head.

_Well, finally. Idiots._

In the end they never actually ate. He was still hungry, but he wasn’t going to hang around here, in case certain people decided to make an appearance. He bought himself a coffee and a croissant and ran back to his dorm.

* * *

 

“So guess what,” Bokuto-san was saying, playing catch with Kuroo-san. Kageyama was leaning against the gym walls, holding a ball in his hand, trying to understand what exactly the morning’s conversation had meant. He knew he’d definitely kissed someone, he remembered _that_ much. And he’d thought the visuals he’d remembered had just been his drunken mind creating fantasies, but now, he wasn’t sure about that.

Was it Hinata he’d kissed? Or was that really just a fantasy? He’d decided to go with the ‘I forgot’ excuse, since it worked, given the context and then he wouldn’t have to suffer from a great deal of embarrassment, but now he was really questioning whether that had been a good idea.

If it _was_ Hinata…

“What,” Kuroo-san replied, catching the ball and tossing it back.

“So at the party last night.” Bokuto-san waggled his eyebrows. “Shrimpy and Grumpy were making out.”

The ball dropped.  Kageyama felt a heavy weight settle into his limbs. He couldn’t move.

“Iwa-chan,” said a singsong voice. “I think he’s brain dead.”

“At least he has a brain.”

“ _Why I never!”_

“Had a brain, yes, that’s right.”

There was loud cackling all over the gym, and equally loud protests from Oikawa-san, but Kageyama was too busy thinking to care. He’d been right. It _had_ been Hinata. The images in his mind weren’t just his fantasies. That really _was_ how it’d feel like to kiss Hinata, and that was exactly how Hinata’s hands had felt in his hair and up his shirt and –

His cheeks burned.

Oh, _fuck_.

* * *

Despite his problems and the sad predicament he was in, Shouyou’s day was slowly starting to get better. He’d spent the morning trying to pay attention in class and talking to Yachi to get his mind off things (it hadn’t helped much), and had decided he’d run himself ragged at practice so he wouldn’t have the time or energy to think at all.

But then his day had automatically gotten better when he entered the gym, because – well, it was the gym, it always made him feel better, but also because even though Kageyama was there, _Kuroo-san_ was too, and Kenma had a _crush_ on Kuroo-san.

Kenma, his best friend, who had never had a crush or displayed any interest in anyone or anything besides his cat and his video games in his life. Had a crush. On Kuroo-san.

Shouyou grinned to himself. He had to exploit this.

“Why do you look so evil today?” Tanaka-san asked him, and Shouyou cackled in response, before a ball came flying from the other side of the court to hit him in the back of his head.

“Sorry!”

 

 

“Bokuto-san,” Shouyou said, sidling up to the senior during the ten minute break. This way he also got to escape the awkwardness that would come with spending break with Kageyama so it was a double win. “Don’t you think Kuroo-san and Kenma would look good together?”

“Well,” Bokuto-san frowned. “The cat is cute but it’s a cat.” Then he gasped, “I didn’t know Kenma was into animals!”

Next to them, Akaashi-san sighed heavily, giving Bokuto-san a look.

“ _I mean Kuroo-san as in your friend!”_

“Is this like a kink then, should I tell Kuroo to buy cat ear headbands?”

“NO – well, no, wait, I’m not sure I’ll have to ask him about that – _but that’s not what I’m talking about!”_

“What are you talking about then, my son?”

“I’m talking about getting Kuroo-san and Kenma together. Because they obviously look good, not because Kenma likes Kuroo-san or anything.” Ah, wait, maybe he’d said more than he should have. He shot a quick look around them, but Kuroo-san was standing with Yachi near the door, so he was safe. Bokuto-san didn’t seem to have realized what he said, because he only looked confused.

“He’s basically doing the ‘get bro happy with pudding-chan’, Koutarou,” Akaashi-san supplied, shaking his head.

Bokuto-san’s eyes lit up. “Oh! OH! Yes, we should do something, shouldn’t we? It is our job to make our pals and buddies happy.”

“Yes! Yes!” Shouyou cried, jumping up in excitement. Finally, someone on his side!

“I tried mating calls and hooting, that didn’t work,” Bokuto-san said, seriously, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How about letting them go at their own pace?” said Akaashi-san, and Bokuto-san threw an arm around his shoulder.

“My dear, do you think I managed to make you like me by letting you go at your own pace?”

“Yes,” Akaashi-san replied. “You went at your rapid pace and I went at mine and we met halfway because we’re us, and you should let Kuroo-san and Kozume-san do the same.”

“But I have to help my bro! And Shrimpy has to help his bro!”

“Do you think mewing would work since they both like cats?” Shouyou interrupted, bouncing on his toes. He was starting to get excited. Seeing Kenma dating – that would be a first. That would be _great_.

“Maybe,” Bokuto-san nodded wisely. “But we have to make sure Kuroo-cat doesn’t get the wrong idea.”

“Yeah,” Shouyou told him. “Kuroo’s actually pretty jealous when it comes to Kenma, he gets all possessive.”

“We’ll think of something, don’t worry.”

* * *

 

Kozume Kenma had a bad feeling.

He was currently walking towards the park, following Shouyou who was talking about how awkward it was to meet Kageyama at practice today, and that he hated Kenma very much, why was he destined to have a cruel best friend, and he was somewhat filled with dread.

Okay, but he was always filled with dread when it came to public places like parks, so maybe that was nothing new.

He’d never actually been to the park, even though he’d been here for about a year and a half. He’d been around campus a total of one time since he’d started college. Mostly because he preferred to spend his free time playing games instead of walking, and also because even if he wanted to walk, the campus was too huge for him to want to explore all of it. The one time he’d went with Shouyou at the beginning of the semester had been enough. And even then, he’d refused to go inside the park.

He didn’t really like parks in general anyway. There were too many mosquitoes and the grass was always wet and it made his shoes and the ends of his pants wet, and there were always a lot of shameless couples occupying the benches.

Still, he felt bad about making Shouyou have to suffer so much embarrassment, so he’d agreed to go, and here he was now.

He’d only spent a total of five minutes inside the actual park, only managing to walk up to the pond near the gates when a loud, booming, instantly recognizable voice reached his ears and he realized why exactly he’d been filled with dread.

“Pudding-chan!” yelled Bokuto Koutarou, running up to him looking particularly gleeful. “And Shrimpy. How nice to see you here.”

“Bokuto-san!” Shouyou cried, throwing both his hands in the air. “And Kuroo-san!”

Kenma froze.

Ah, so that’s what it was. He should have known. He should have seen through this plan the very instant Shouyou asked him to come to the park. Shouyou never asked him to come to the park. Shouyou never asked him to indulge in socialization more than their weekly Friday dinner. He was so incredibly _stupid_.

He was also probably looking something like a tomato with hair, because as Kuroo Tetsurou approached the gathering – looking _unfairly_ nice in red sweatpants and a black shirt, Kenma noticed; was it legal to pull off such a lame look so well? Especially with that hair? What law of the universe allowed Kuroo Tetsurou? – Kenma felt his cheeks burn and his skin tingle with. Something. His stomach felt funny, and suddenly, the individual blades of grass under his feet were very interesting.

“Since we’re all here and we all know each other, let’s just hang out!” Shouyou said. Kenma sighed. It was like they weren’t even _trying_ to be subtle. Tetsurou wasn’t an _idiot_ , he’d probably already figured out the situation. Kenma’s life was over, he was going to drop out and move to some far off place on the other side of the world. Canada, maybe. His high school English grades hadn’t been that bad.

“We can hang out right bro? Right? _Right?!”_ Bokuto was saying and Tetsurou shrugged a response.

“I guess so? I don’t mind.”

“Okay, cool, Kenma doesn’t either, do you Kenma?” Shouyou elbowed him in the side, earning a glare. “See? He doesn’t mind.”

“Cool!” Bokuto shouted, and then suddenly, with a loud yell of “Tag, you’re it!” Kenma was pushed forward, right into Kuroo Tetsurou – or his arms, to be more accurate, and Kenma had the fleeting thought of _he’s so hot_ before he was falling further, landing in the middle of something cold and wet –

“What the fuck, man?” Tetsurou was saying, scowling at a guffawing Bokuto. Shouyou was also laughing, though looking slightly guiltier about the entire situation. Kenma looked at the water around him. He was at the shallow end of the pond, but it still reached up to his chest. Maybe if he lay down, he’d be entirely submerged and would suffocate and die.

Or maybe he’d become a fish, by some miracle, and swim away to live a carefree life. He voiced as much and Tetsurou snorted.

“That’s cute,” he said, between laughs. “You’re cute, Kenma.”

Somewhere far away, he heard Shouyou gasp, and a loud hooting sound from Bokuto, but Kenma was too busy fighting the embarrassment, the blush that wouldn’t stay off his face, and focusing on the fact that Tetsurou was too close and too wet, looking too nice for someone who was sitting in the middle of the pond, and that his shirt was sticking too closely to his body, outlining the muscles he’d obviously worked hard to gain and suddenly, Kenma was glad he was already dripping wet because he was most likely crying.

“Hey, get out of the pond,” Shouyou’s voice cut through his thoughts. “You’ll get sick, and if the guards see you, you’ll get into trouble.”

Tetsurou nodded his agreement as he stood up, grabbing Kenma by the arm and hoisting him up as well. Kenma dazedly stepped out of the water, letting Shouyou hurry him off, because he didn’t think he was in any condition to think about anything.

In fact, he didn’t want to think about anything. He also didn’t want to see Shouyou give him that ridiculous sly smile as they started walking away from the pond. He wanted to go home.

“I’m going home,” he said, giving Shouyou a murderous look.

“But you haven’t even _been_ here long!” Bokuto complained from somewhere behind him, and Kenma ignored him. Tetsurou didn’t though, and there was a loud thump and a yelp of pain.

“Kenma,” he said, walking closer. He held something out. Something made of cloth. “Take my jacket, you’ll get sick. Your dorm is pretty far from here.”

“You’re also wet,” Kenma pointed out.

“That’s fine,” Tetsurou smiled. “I’m made of stronger stuff.”

“Are you calling me weak?”

“I – what,” Kenma fought the smile that threatened to show itself at the flailing. “No, I’m saying you’re – well, you know, when you’re walking against the wind, it’s stronger and colder than when you’re standing still and I’m planning on staying here for a little while longer, so your chances of getting sick are higher than mine so – ”

“It’s okay, you _are_ stronger than me,” he said. And even though every cell in his body told him it was a bad idea, he would regret it, this wasn’t okay, he took the jacket. “Thanks.”

Tetsurou smiled and shot him a wink before turning to go back to where Bokuto was waiting for him. Kenma’s stomach felt funny again.

“I didn’t know you could flirt,” Shouyou whispered, and Kenma kicked him in the shin.

**Author's Note:**

> candylit.tumblr.com  
> twitter.com/chhuuya
> 
> [translated to spanish by Panxiihh!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6334861)


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